The

and the

are close to sealing a "tactical alliance" for Bengal elections, a move that may impact a contest in which the ruling Trinamool Congress is widely believed to start as the frontrunner.

NEW DELHI:Sources said the Congress leadership is veering towards the decision after coming to the conclusion that it has little option other than tying up with the Left. The party's state unit is vehemently against an alliance with Mamata Banerjee and has mounted tremendous pressure for an alliance with the Left led by CPM. A decision is likely in the coming days.Congress has been in a dilemma over Bengal because of simultaneous polls in Kerala where it is locked in a bitter power battle with the Red brigade. It would be a political tightrope for the party to justify its public call against CPM in the southern state just when it seeks a vote against Mamata hand in hand with communists in Bengal.In recent days, its predicament seems to have been trumped by cold calculation that it has to throw its lot with someone in Bengal lest it lands in the state without an ally. The party will face decimation in case Trinamool goes into the polls with a divided opposition.The Congress is being persuaded by the fact that the TMC would anyway side with the BJP-led Centre after the state polls, like it has done till recently. It is contrary to the reality of the Left which cannot tie up, even informally, with the BJP.The awkward situation over Kerala may still restrain the Congress from a fully fledged alliance.The contours of a "tactical alliance" are still not clear but the Congress is pitching for constituencies where it won in the Lok Sabha polls despite fighting both the Left and the TMC. There are individual assembly segments where it led despite losing the LS seat. Also, there are some seats that Congress believes are its "traditional strongholds".The CPM's desperation in Bengal, where it faces continued irrelevance in view of TMC's hold over the levers of government, may persuade it be generous with the Congress. Only a formal alliance ensures perfect coordination between political partners but proponents of the Left-Congress compact say the case is different in Bengal. The shared hostility of Congress and Left sympathisers against Trinamool would work even with a mere hint of a joint fight from the leadership, it is said.It is believed that joint marches organised by the Congress and the Left in districts and the renewed call from Bengal unit of CPM for a tie-up are rooted in a hint from the leadership that there would be an electoral understanding between the parties.