KOLKATA: Just ahead of the panchayat elections in Bengal, Trinamool Congress is slowly shaping up its strategy to contest assembly election in three northeastern states - Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. Last week, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Mukul Roy and other key functionaries had gone to Meghalaya to check out the poll preparedness of the party.

Trinamool Congress's performance in Manipur - where it had won seven of the 47 seats it contested and came a close second in 22 others (the winning margin being even less than 100 votes in some cases) - has provided it an impetus for its northeast foray.

In Meghalaya, where Trinamool wants to focus more, the chances of making its footprint larger are high. Trinamool had a base in Meghalaya in 2004 when Purno Sangma had joined Trinamool Congress. After Sangma lost the Presidential elections and formally severed ties with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, he had formed the Nationalist People's Party (NPP). Thirteen former NCP legislators - including his two sons Conrad (who is the leader of the opposition in Meghalaya) and James - had joined his newly formed party. However, two legislators chose to return back to their original party, leaving the number at 11 at present.

Trinamool feels the anti-Congress wave and the infighting among NPP ranks will give it an opportunity to fight in this region. "We hope to field at least 12-15 candidates in this Garo Hills belt. However, we are very clear that we want this foray to be a selective and focused one. It is also a reason why we don't intend to field any candidates, barring a couple of them, in the Khasi Jantia Hills that sends another 36 MLAs to the Meghalaya assembly. A party office is being set up in Tura and Shillong," a Trinamool source said. A senior leader also debunked the claims that Mukul Roy has met several senior Congress leaders in Meghalaya in a bid to engineer a split in the ruling Congress. "He didn't meet any senior Congress leaders," the leader clarified.

In Nagaland, Trinamool is likely to join hands with the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF). Even in the run-up to Manipur elections, they were in seat-sharing talks with the NPF, but it didn't materialize later. However, the relation remains. "The two parties share several common grounds, including their anti-NDA and anti-UPA stance," a senior leader reasoned.

In Tripura, the party will give it a shot in the assembly polls but it remains largely skeptical of its chances. The final electoral rolls of these three states are likely to be announced on January 5, 2013, paving the way for elections. The three northeastern states have 60 assembly seats each.