Cong may give Mamata a face-saver

The Congress on Monday made serious efforts to placate West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid indication that she may be given a face-saving option.
Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is learnt to be negotiating with Banerjee.

While there was speculation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may speak to Banerjee on the issue, finance minister P Chidambaram came out in support of last week reforms and said there was no question of a rollback of the reform decisions, as demanded by the Opposition.

The Congress is said to be contemplating the possibility of a partial rollback in the prices of diesel and also relax restrictions on gas cylinder, fixed at six per family per annum. Party sources said there there will be no change in FDI in multi-brand retail.

Top Congress brass including Union ministers A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Vayalar Ravi met with Gandhi to chalk out a strategy as Banerjee’s 72-hour ultimatum to the Centre for rollback ends on Tuesday. The meeting also discussed the Telangana issue.

Banerjee is said to be considering three options: Continuing with the UPA governmet while opposing the reforms, pulling out ministers and giving outside support, and severing all relations with the UPA. The last option, many said, was a remote possibility.

Although, she will take a final decision on the issue at the parliamentary party meeting in Kolkata on Tuesday, reports reaching here suggest that the TMC may consider pulling out its ministers if its demands are not fulfilled.

“I believe conversations are going on. We do believe that we will be able to have a working relationship. We remain optimistic,” Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary said. “We appreciate compulsion of allies but we want them to understand our compulsion also,” she added.

Choudhary, however, rejected the suggestion that Mamata’s adamant stand on the issue had posed a threat to the UPA government. “At present, we have no threat and we would like to continue,” she said.

Asked if the Congress had contingency plan in case the TMC decides to distance itself from the UPA, she said, “We do not expect a situation like that, but I am sure our political managers will be working on it (contingency plan).

Congress sources in Delhi hinted that the government was under no threat as the most difficult and the second largest UPA constituent had made it clear that it would not walk out of the UPA.

Sources in the Congress hoped that Banerjee would not like go with the BJP. “The state (West Bengal) has 30 per cent Muslim population. She can’t take the risk of going with the BJP. She may pull out her ministers,” sources said.

Sources also said that there was also a division among the senior party leaders in the TMC over the issue of pulling out ministers from the government.

The Trinamool Congress, the second largest constituent of the UPA with 19 members in the Lok Sabha, has one cabinet minister, Mukul Roy and five ministers of state, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Sougata Roy, Sultan Ahmed, Sisir Adhikary and C M Jatua in the Union council of ministers.