The flutter created by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s Facebook post backing the UPA on the foreign policy issue, died down a day later with the party scotching all speculation of reviving its ties with Congress.
However, it was a day of mixed fortunes for the Congress as the party was cut some slack by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who on Thursday herded back his slogan-shouting brigade in Parliament and finally buried the ugly Beni Prasad Verma episode.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal party jumped into an immediate damage control exercise on Thursday after Mamata Banerjee’s post was construed as an indication that the party might bail out the Congress if the political crisis in Delhi deepens.
“The reports are at best a figment of a fertile imagination,” the party’s Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien told The Pioneer.
Banerjee had set tongues wagging at a time when there is a visible slide in Trinamool’s electoral fortunes. The party stood third in two (Rejinagar and Nalhati) out of three by-elections held after it snapped ties with the Congress. Together they had trounced the left Front in the 2009 general election and then swept the Assembly polls two years later.
Trinamool’s real worry is the approaching Panchayat election. A section of its leaders fear that a triangular contest between Trinamool, the Congress and the left may be detrimental to its interests. Mamata also has to account for the fact that the BJP threatens to eat into non-left votes in some parts of the State.
However, indicating that there was no change in its stance, Trinamool MPs disrupted Parliament on issues of Bengal’s debt restructuring and discontinuing assistance for the “Rs 2 a kg rice” scheme for BPl segments of the population in Jangalmahal. They accused the Government of giving Bengal a raw deal in the Railway Budget.
Kalyan Banerjee (Serampore) and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Barasat), led party MPs into the Well of the House and raised slogans against P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Kumar Bansal.
“You can see our MPs protesting against rising prices and clamouring for Bengal’s rights. We will continue to fight for the interests of the people of Bengal,” said State Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee.
Sources said that Banerjee wanted a new dispensation in the Centre sooner than later, to gain back her predominance in Delhi and extract concessions for her State as her Government had failed to fulfill most of the pre-poll promises till now.
“Hence dragging a comatose Government is pointless,” commented a leader.
Party insiders said the Chief Minister wanted early polls more than anyone else, given the fast falling popularity graph of her Government.
Sources also said that Banerjee’s sudden support on the lanka-Tamil issue was more economic than political as she is trying to extract more MNREGA funds from Delhi in the coming months, particularly ahead of the Panchayat elections.
Earlier, the SP’s Parliamentary Party discussed the Beni Prasad Verma issue and authorised Mulayam Singh Yadav to take a call on continuing outside support to the UPA. During an hour-long meeting, several MPs slammed Verma for his remarks that Yadav takes commission to extend support to the UPA.
However, Yadav was of the view that since Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have personally intervened on the issue of Verma’s remarks, the party should wait for the outcome.