Congress gets ready to rebuff Mamta's offer

With a stalemate in its alliance with the Trinamool Congress for the West Bengal assembly elections, the Congress is preparing to contest all the 294 seats in the state.

A final call in this regard will be taken by party chief Sonia Gandhi.

A clear indication to this effect was given by senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed, who is in charge of the party affairs in West Bengal.

"We are preparing three lists -- for 64 seats, 90 seats and all 294 seats... As a political party must have candidates for all seats," Ahmed told reporters in Kolkata.

At the same time, he said the Congress wanted the alliance to take place. "The Congress still wants the alliance" and party leaders from West Bengal will abide by "whatever decision the Congress high command takes in this regard," he said.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had sprung a surprise on the Congress on Friday by unilaterally announcing her party's decision to contest 228 seats.

The Trinamool had made the announcement despite the Congress seeking some more time as it could not reach a consensus on either the number of seats or the constituencies to be shared.

Acknowledging the stalemate, Ahmed on Monday said, "We still do not have consensus on the number of seats as well as the constituencies including some held by the Congress. That's why there are differences in our perception."