Congress-Trinamool ties in a quandary
The daily exchange of barbs between the Congress and Trinamool Congress, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee joining the issue, may hasten divorce between the two major partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
This is a growing belief among Congress leaders following the series of road blocks erected by Banerjee in the last few weeks, which pushed the Congress-led UPA to the wall, often forcing it to roll back its decisions.
The latest episode in the uneasy relationship is the controversy over renaming Indira Bhavan in Kolkata after poet Nusrul Islam by the West Bengal government. "This could be the beginning of the end of our relationship. The future of the ties depends on the outcome of the elections in Uttar Pradesh,” a senior Congress leader told Deccan Herald here on Wednesday.
The Congress is banking on the Samajwadi Party to do well in the northern state and emerge as the single largest party. In such an eventuality, it hopes that a situation will arise where the Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal could support the Samajwadi Party to form the next government in UP. Congress sources said: “This would mean the SP would support the UPA government. If this happens, then the Congress can dump the Trinamool and make friends with the SP, which helped the UPA pass the Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha by staging a walkout.”
The Trinamool is the second largest partner in the UPA, after the Congress, with 19 MPs. SP has 22 MPs. The UPA enjoys a slender majority in the Lower House after the RLD joined the coalition.
The Congress-Trinamool Congress ties touched a raw nerve when the temperamental WB leader attacked the Congress for “abusing her on a daily basis”. She meant the state Congress—which is at war with her for some time now—but the message has now been carried to the powers that be in Delhi. Mamata further remarked: “The Congress is engaged in dirty politics. They have joined hands with the CPM.”
Cong frustration
The Congress top brass is frustrated over ally Trinamool playing the role of an Opposition party to perfection, be it in forcing it to put on hold petrol prices, FDI in multi-brand retail, Lokpal etc.
“Look at what the Trinamool did to Lokpal. The regional party did not even give a dissenting note in the report of the Parliamentary standing committee on Lokpal.
It supported the government on the Bill in the Lok Sabha. Its concerns about federalism and that Lokpal tramples on the rights of the states were expressed only a day after the Lok Sabha passed the Bill. Some say Mamata decided to oppose the Bill when she discovered that an Opposition leader, in this case the CPM member, would be part of the selection committee to choose the Lokayukta,” said Congress sources.
