Mamata Banerjee warms up to Ajit Panja

Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress chief, seems to be warming up to estranged veteran Ajit Panja in an attempt to keep her party rival Sudip Bandopadhyay on the leash.

Dangling a carrot in front of the former Union minister, Banerjee hinted at the possibility of revoking the suspension handed over to him. "I will talk to him (Panja) after his return from London," she said.

Panja, two years ago, had faced disciplinary action after he had insisted that the Trinamool Congress should remain in the National Democratic Alliance even after the Tehelka expose.

Earlier, she had sprung a surprise on the ailing Panja by visiting him at a Kolkata nursing home in the first face-to-face interaction between the two leaders in a year.

Observers see the move as an attempt to pre-empt any alliance between Panja and Bandopadhyay. Banerjee is having a running battle with Bandopadhyay on the issue of his induction into the Union Cabinet.