Unfazed by the accusations by a section of the Congress leadership in Bengal of dictating terms in the alliance, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has endorsed Pranab Mukherjee's statement that the tie-up was a political necessity.
Baneerjee on Monday said there was no alternative to the alliance between her party and the Congress for unseating the Left Front from power and that they would jointly fight the 2011 assembly elections.
Welcoming Bengal Congress president Pranab Mukherjee's statement at the end of a two-day conclave of the state unit on Sunday at Krishnanagar, she told journalists before leaving for Bangalore, "Our primary objective is to free Bengal of the Left Front's misrule."
"We will drive the Communist Party of India-Marxist out from power by forging the alliance for the assembly polls," she said.
Mamata said, "Bengal has been destroyed in all spheres. Terror and killings are the government's main weapons. The economy is in doldrums with government debt running into Rs 1,30,000 crore. The future of youths is dark. There is huge corruption and crores of rupees are being siphoned off."
At the Sunday conclave, prominent Congress leaders like Adhir Chowdhury and Deepa Dasmunshi had drawn Mukherjee's attention to the "highhanded attitude" of the Trinamool Congress.
Chowdhury, a Member of Parliament, had demanded early "area demarcation" for share of seats in the 2011 assembly elections, which Mukherjee rejected saying it was too early and tactical, hard bargaining would serve the purpose.
Mukherjee had said on Sunday that the alliance would go to the elections projecting Banerjee as the chief ministerial candidate.
"It is a gilt-edged chance to dethrone the Left Front from power in West Bengal and it is very timely. It should not be allowed to be wasted," he said.
In the general elections in May, the Congress high command had accepted Mamata's seat-sharing formula despite opposition by a section of the state party and agreed on a 14-28 seat-sharing deal.
In the 2006 assembly elections, the Congress had contested from all the 294 seats, as it did not have a pact with the Trinamool then.
In the 2001 assembly elections, when the two parties had unsuccessfully fought the poll together, the Congress had contested in 57 seats.
