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Mamatadi
is in no hurry at all to pull anchor from NDA
Sharad Gupta
New Delhi,
April 27: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee might be
contesting against both Left Front and NDA in West Bengal. But technically,
she continues to be part of the ruling NDA at the Centre —
apparently to keep her post-poll options open.
Immediately
after the Tehelka expose broke, Mamata stormed out of the NDA and
with much fanfare aligned with the Congress for the Bengal Assembly
polls.
But as she has
officially not informed either President K.R. Narayanan or Lok Sabha
Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi of her decision, she continues to be part
of the ruling central coalition.
For the past
three days, a jittery Congress has been reportedly pleading with
her to sever all NDA ties by writing to the Speaker. It has, however,
not succeeded. And going by Mamata’s announcement in Kolkata
on Thursday, it appears she is in no hurry to do so.
She said she
would write to Balayogi to allot her party separate seats in the
House, but only when Parliament’s monsoon session begins —
much after results of the Assembly elections are declared.
Balayogi said:
‘‘If Trinamool MPs want separate seats for themselves,
their leader should write and let me know. It’s her duty. So
far, I have not received any such communication.’’
In her campaign
speeches, the Trinamool chief has not criticised the NDA or Prime
Minister A.B. Vajpayee till now. The silence is being construed
as an attempt to keep her options open to return to the NDA government
if she fails to wrest power in the state.
She is now
faced with a near revolt by some of her party MPs such as Ajit Panja
and his brother Ranjit, who have been vocal on their support to
the NDA. So Mamata’s decision not to withdraw from the coalition
is seen as an attempt to keep her flock together by dangling the
carrot of wielding power at the Centre if Bengal fails to vote her
party to victory.
Mamata’s
moves have, however, triggered panic in the Congress, with several
state leaders approaching the party high command for clarifications
on their ties with the Trinamool leader.
Her indifferent
attitude has prompted Congress leader A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chaudhuri
to request party chief Sonia Gandhi to suspend her joint campaign
with Mamata until she formally parts ways with the NDA. The joint
campaign is scheduled for May 3.
Kamal Nath,
AICC general-secretary in charge of West Bengal, is learnt to have
been in touch with Mamata over the past three days. He has sought
her written communication to either the President or the Lok Sabha
Speaker and failed.
‘‘It
doesn’t look nice of her to criticise the NDA of which she
was a part till recently. If she is sincere in fighting the NDA
and the Left, she should sever all links with the NDA,’’
a Congress leader of the state said.
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