Warmth in Delhi, freeze in Bengal

kolkata: with nda convener george fernandes announcing trinamul's return to the nda, the state unit of the party is a happy and relieved lot. they see it as a vindication of party supremo mamata banerjee's position as the centre of anti-left movement in the state. "the bjp leadership and workers always wanted us to combat the cpm together," said trinamul policy making committee chairman pankaj banerjee, pointing out that his party had decided to return to the nda after the prime minister and the nda convener showed their keenness to have trinamul back.although mamata appears to have returned to the nda empty-handed, trinamul leaders in the city are confident that it is a matter of time before the party is accommodated in the ministry. they even hope that didi will get back the coveted railway ministry. the writing on the wall in the state is, however, pretty clear. despite the bonhomie with the bjp in delhi, at the state-level the distance between the two parties will remain. and, with the congress apparently happy that the uneasy alliance with the trinamul is now a thing of the past, for the trinamul it may be a lonely sojourn from now on in west bengal. that the vibes between the old and new allies remain cold till date was clear from the way the state bjp reacted to trinamul's return to the nda. bjp vice-president muzaffar khan merely reiterated the political line given by party president jana krishnamurty recently. "our standpoint has been made clear by our party president. in west bengal, we will go alone," khan said.