April 21 :     Keeping the backdoor open for the BJP and a mahajot of Opposition parties, the West Bengal Congress today moved to accelerate talks on an alliance with Mamata Banerjee. In a meeting with Congress Working Committee member Ghulam Nabi Azad and AICC secretary Pawan Bansal, state party president A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury reaffirmed allegiance to Sonia Gandhi and got the go-ahead for an alliance with Trinamul. 'We shall have seat-sharing only with Trinamul, but will not have any direct or indirect links with the communal BJP,' Azad said after the 30-minute meeting in Calcutta. The Congress leaders arrived this morning at Sonia's behest to convey the high command's concerns as well as the directive to the state leadership not to enter into any pact with the BJP. Azad emphasised the Congress line and asked the state party leadership to begin selecting candidates against the BJP. Chowdhury parroted the CWC member while talking to reporters. However, indications are that the label mahajot will be replaced with that of a publicly visible alliance between the Congress and Trinamul. The BJP, firmly rooted in the background, will be the third arm of an invisible troika. The high command can justify its agreement to such a deal for the civic polls by pointing to the precedent of the informal, but well-known, alliance with the BJP for the panchayat polls in Bengal. The concept of a grand alliance also received a shot in the arm with a one-to-one between Chowdhury and Congress leader Saugata Roy, a Priya Ranjan Das Munshi loyalist, later in the day. Roy, who had demanded Chowdhury's resignation a few days ago, has promised full cooperation in ensuring the alliance's success. Azad said after the meeting that the high command had no differences with the Pradesh Congress over the alliance. 'It is our intention to defeat both the CPM and the BJP in the coming polls,' he said. But minutes after Azad left the city, Chowdhury met Trinamul MP Jayanta Bhattacharya to clear any misunderstanding on the mahajot. 'Barkatda called me to convey his best wishes to Mamata for the proposed mahajot. He asked me not to be misled by what the AICC leaders told him,' he said. Mamata, too, asserted that the BJP would be part of the mahajot. 'In no way can the tie-up be broken,' she said. But Azad did succeed in prevailing upon Chowdhury to call on Sonia. The Pradesh Congress chief will go to Delhi on Monday. The Congress president sent Azad to Bengal on two counts. First, he has excellent one-to-one rapport with Chowdhury, known for his unpredictable behaviour. Moreover, Azad is in charge of Kerala where the impact of a mahajot will be the most severe. Yesterday, Kerala leaders A.K. Antony and K. Karunakaran called on Sonia and cautioned against the mahajot. They said the party will not be able to wrest Kerala from the Left Front as it will be going to polls along with Bengal.