With state Assembly elections scheduled for 2011, the stakes for winning the political battle in West Bengal are getting higher. And for once, it is the Congress that is setting the pace, seeking to redefine the existing terms of its ever uneasy relationship with the TMC.

Present exchanges between the two parties, marked by barely concealed mutual hostility, mark a total contrast with the situation prevailing just before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Then, it was the TMC all the way, virtually dictating terms to the older party, of which it was the disobedient offshoot. The Congress played the subservient role of a junior partner in the electoral alliance.

It had no choice. Post Singur and Nandigram agitations, which despite the general support of all opposition parties, were very much a TMC dominated business, Ms Banerjee's image was at an all time high. Falling in line with the TMC's demands, the Congress took a calculated risk. If the alliance with the TMC worked well, it would boost the Congress's prospects as well. If it failed, Ms Banerjee and her party would remain accountable . The TMC would be more flexible in its dealing with the older party in future.

Either way, it would be win-win for the Congress, which had never engaged in all out anti-Left struggles over the years as the TMC, led by Ms Banerjee. This was one of the reasons why she set up the TMC in the first place. Much to her chagrin, the Congress at the centre was dependant on Left support at the Centre.

To the secret disappointment of the Congress leadership, its alliance with the TMC succeeded beyond expectation. The TMC emerged as a bigger party than the CPI(M) in West Bengal. Its leadership got brasher, more assertive, even arrogant, in its dealings with the Congress. At the centre the Congress had to treat the TMC with its 19 Lok Sabha seats, as a heavyweight ally, now more important politically than the combined Left.

Despite its increasingly limited options, the state Cong)I), with full clearance from the centre, tried to break out of its shackles. At Siliguri civic elections and in some smaller civic bodies, it formed the Board with the left and other parties. The TMC cried foul. It was serving notice to the TMC not to take it for granted.

Astute Left leaders at the state and central levels were fully aware of what was happening .They indulged in some deft footwork of their own. The CPI(M) swallowed its hurt pride and wooed the Congress. Mr. Sitaram Yechury assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that if the TMC proved too obdurate in its opposition to the Congress's approach on land acquisition, disinvestments and other issues, the left would support the second UPA Ministry.

Simmering tensions between the TMC and the Congress reached their climax during the Kolkata Municipal polls. After days of bickering, as the two partiers traded insults, there was no alliance.

The outcome favoured the TMC, which did much better than the Congress. In 141 wards, the Congress won only in 10, leaving the field to be shared between the TMC and the CPI(M)-led Left, which lost.

Observers were not surprised. After all the TMC had earned its success, whether in the Lok Sabha or in the civic bodies, through hard struggle and prolonged agitations. The Congress mostly practiced tokenism in the name of opposition. True, in Muslim dominated central and North Bengal districts, the Congress still remained a mass party. But in more populous South Bengal districts, which provide the numbers, many people regarded the party as a natural ally of the Left. Its symbiotic relationship with the Left at the Centre deepened such perceptions.

However, the Congress is led by senior wily leaders Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. Even though its position was weakened after the Kolkata civic polls, the party think tank at the centre was not idle. It reorganised the state leadership with fresh blood. To strengthen the following at the grassroot level, it began a new membership drive.

Conscious that the state party lacked a dynamic, presentable front that could win over youth and new voters, the high command introduced the heaviest weapon in its armoury : the popular, presentable Rahul Gandhi as a party campaigner.

At one level, this also underscored the party's desperation to survive as a credible political force in the state. But unlike previous high command leaders, Mrs Gandhi and Mr. Mukherjee did not let the situation slide out of control. Well before the Assembly polls, while all indications suggest that the TMC would virtually ride roughshod over the Congress in seat sharing arrangements, the older party has decided to seize the initiative.

The Congress would like to contest at least 100 out of 294 assembly seats in alliance with the TMC. But the TMC would not like to spare it more than 50 seats or so. After winning much crowd support during his visits to other states, Mr. Gandhi also drew large enthusiastic crowds at his meetings in West Bengal. In his own words, he was “pleasantly surprised” by his reception. Overnight, he was the second biggest crowd puller in Bengal after Ms Banerjee.

This naturally was not to Ms Banerjee's liking. For all her public protestations,, she is used to behaving as the monarch of all she surveys. And here was the young Mr. Gandhi taking away the limelight in her backyard, limelight that belonged to her alone.

Being diplomatic never comes easy to Ms Banerjee. And very soon the jibes started flowing. Without naming Mr Gandhi she called him “a seasonal bird”, “a prince living in luxury”, unlike politicians who have come up the hard way. Emphasizing her roughhewn origin, she noted that she had not been helped by her family, nor promoted any family member in any way. To his credit, Mr. Gandhi handled the situation well, not reacting strongly.

Now state and central Congress leaders see the emerging” battle” between the two parties as one that concerns the survival of the older party in Bengal. Unlike the late Indira Gandhi, Mrs Sonia Gandhi would not like to see the TMC acquire the position of the DMK or AIADMK parties in Tamil Nadu, which have made the Congress almost irrelevant in Tamil Nadu. Under her leadership, the Congress would n not give up without a fight against emerging regional parties. Unlike Mrs Indira Gandhi, she would depute top leaders from the centre to help shore up the flagging state units, another departure from the usual Congress policy.

The battle has been joined in real earnest, between two popular, ambitious and effective political leaders in their respective spheres of work, between Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Ms Mamata Banerjee. Leaders like Manas Bhuyan, Subrata Muherjee, with all respect, serve as mere bystanders. Mr Gandhi's successful Bengal programmes have brought deep frowns on the faces of the TMC leaders.

Ironically, the ruling Left Front seems to figure nowhere in this silent, desperate tussle for power. (IPA Service)