Pranab, Mamata meet governor
Kolkata, July 9: Leaving the pre-civic polls acrimony behind, the Union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and the railway minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, on Friday not only shared the stage at a high-profile programme of the Railways and Kolkata Port Trust but they also jointly met the Governor, Mr M.K. Narayanan.
This is the first time that the two leaders visited the Raj Bhavan together. They were closetted with Mr Narayanan for nearly an hour.
Political observers said that the development had far-reaching consequences. Although neither Mr Mukherjee nor Ms Banerjee revealed what transpired during their unusual meeting with the Governor, their visit fuelled speculation of early Assembly elections.
Although the Election Commissioner, Mr Y.S. Quraishi, ruled out early polls, the Trinamul Congress is insisting that since the Left Front has lost people’s support, it should seek fresh mandate.
“Didi wants early polls but not under President’s rule. It is therefore unlikely that Mr Mukherjee and Ms Banerjee requested the Governor to urge the Centre to invoke Article 356,” a Trinamul Congress MP said.
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