Kolkata:
The Congress and the Trinamool have reportedly agreed on a seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Assembly polls in West Bengal. An official announcement on this is expected soon.
NDTV has learnt that the Congress will get 65 seats in the deal with Mamata. The Trinamool chief is also likely to change four seats in favour of the Congress
Top leaders of the Congress met in New Delhi today to discuss the deadlock. Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee also met Sonia Gandhi and is said to have discussed the issue with her. The party president is reportedly strongly in favour of the alliance.
On Friday, Mamata had unilaterally announced candidates for 228 constituencies, leaving ally Congress with 64 and another two for the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI).
"We will be happy if Congress fields its candidates in 64 seats by Monday. Else, we will put our own candidates there including those from the minority community," Mamata Banerjee had said. Trinamool had made the announcement despite the Congress seeking some more time as it could not reach a consensus on the number of seats or the constituencies to be shared.
But sources now say that she is unlikely to announce candidates for the seats left for the Congress. She will only announce the manifesto today.
The state goes to the polls in six phases starting April 18.