TMC-Cong to attempt patch-up today

TMC-Cong to attempt patch-up today

In what is being viewed as a “dual core strategy” taken by Congress and Trinamool Congress “to soothe each other”, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would on Tuesday engage Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata almost at the same time when her party MPs would be placing their list of grievances before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the national Capital. The patch-up would hinge on the “degree of success achieved in the talks in Kolkata”.

The Trinamool MPs, led by Partha chaterjee, would take up the issue of the Centre’s repeated cold-shouldering of the second biggest UPA partner on vital policy decisions - including the latest petrol price rise. And for her part, Banerjee would raise the pitch for central economic package so that she can fulfill her pre-electoral promises.

Interestingly, Banerjee’s one-on-one with Mukherjee would take place not at the usual address at the Congress leader’s South Kolkata residence but at the Raj Bhavan where State Governor MK Narayanan would play the facilitator.

Not been on good terms the two leaders had not met in the past few weeks even as the Finance Minister allegedly cited “constitutional hurdles” to clear Central packages for Bengal. Banerjee had for long been demanding a special status for Bengal in her bid to seek a debt restructuring plan for her cash-strapped State.

It is against this backdrop that the Bengal Governor had to step in (reportedly under instructions from Janpath) to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders.

The chemistry between the Banerjee and Pranab the rock bottom last week when the latter rejected the UPA partner’s contention on petrol price hike saying the allies were party to the Centre’s decision on deregulating the petroleum prices.

Furious at being repeatedly ignored over crucial decisions and irked by the non-releasing of Central funds to rebuild Bengal, Banerjee lapped up the petrol price issue to send out a pull out threat to the Centre sending the Congress leadership into a tizzy.

Pranab is understood to have some reservation over financial package sought by Mamata and this disagreement has irked the Trinamool boss.

With 18 members in the Lok Sabha, Trinamool is the second largest ally of the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre (DMK being the largest) and is capable enough to endanger the ruling regime’s existence.

While Sudip Bandopadhyay said the party’s threat to pull out was “real” rather than “tactical”, sources in the Trinamool said Banerjee was more concerned not with the rollback of petrol prices but a declaration by the Prime Minister assuring “better coordination in the future.”

However, Bandopadhyay said the delegation will not demand a rollback of the petrol hike but will “express grievances to the PM”. He told reporters, “No, we are not asking for a rollback. We are trying to represent the grievances of the common man. Prices of diesel and gas are going to increase, is what we are hearing.”

After talks with the PM, Trinamool MPs will return to Kolkata on November 9 and report to Mamata, who will take the final call on whether to stick to her pull-out threat.

Banerjee, however, upped the ante on the eve of the meeting, saying her party would not “compromise” on the price rise issue. “We will not compromise on the price rise issue which is hitting the common man most. Our battle will go on,” she said. Law Minister Salman Khurshid said a solution could be reached during the proposed meeting between PM and Trinamool MPs.

Coming along expected lines, Congress’ other ally, the DMK, however, ruled out quitting the UPA Government on petrol price-hike issue, saying it has always followed “coalition dharma”. Party chief M Karunanidhi told reporters in Chennai, “We had expressed our views that the hike would cause great hardship to people... We will follow the coalition dharma as we have been doing all along.”

Meanwhile, BJP reiterated its demand for an immediate roll back of petrol price hike and hinted that Parliament could be stalled during the winter session if Government fails to do so.

The party maintained that on the day the hike of Rs 1.80 per litre of petrol was announced, international prices of crude had actually fallen. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar insisted that refined petrol can be sold at Rs 34/litre in Delhi and Rs 36/litre in Mumbai.

The main opposition also hit out at the UPA allies, saying they were “part and parcel” of the hike.