State BJP cold to PM’s plea

kolkata: prime minister atal behari vajpayee may have jumped the gun in his efforts to bring the state bjp closer to the trinamul congress. though trinamul president mamata banerjee admitted that her party was considering the realignment following their joint meeting with prime minister atal behari vajpayee in kolkata on saturday, bjp leaders have their doubts.mps, mlas and councillors from our party met the prime minister along with state bjp leaders. we are happy that both the parties spoke on similar lines. we always wanted to have an alliance against the left, banerjee said. before leaving for delhi on monday to attend parliament, she even told reporters that there were possibilities of seat adjustment in the panchayat elections. we can talk about seat adjustments in future also, banerjee said. but the state bjp leadership appears not so enthusiastic about reviving the alliance. union minister of state for telecommunication tapan sikdar has already expressed his disapproval. speaking to tnn, bjp state president asim ghosh advised caution on the issue. it was the prime minister who raised the issue in kolkata. he told us that the relations between the two parties should improve. we were not prepared for it, ghosh said. ghosh would rather describe the developments as just a beginning. he said that despite the pm's clear signal on revival of the alliance, there was still a long way to go. this is a matter of policy change and we have to consult our central leadership, ghosh pointed out. bjp state vice-president muzaffar khan, too, said that the sentiments at the grass roots must be considered before reviving the alliance. khan also pointed out that the trinamul leaders, especially mamata, would have to change their attitude before any meaningful dialogue could be started.