Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee may have given a 72-hour ultimatum to the UPA to revoke its recent decisions on diesel price hike and FDI in retail, but several TMC Union ministers are keen to see a rapprochement between the party and the Centre.
According to TMC sources, attempts are being made to bridge the divide between the two allies and there is a likelihood of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaking to Banerjee to assuage her concerns.
While sources both within the Congress and the TMC confirmed that talks were underway to resolve the issue, TMC senior leader Sultan Ahmed opted to take a stringent stance, saying there were three options before the party. "There could be pullout of ministers from UPA, there could be withdrawal of support from the government or ministers will not attend office,” Ahmed said.
However, there are sections within the party which are keen to see the storm blow over with the Congress making the first attempt to reach out to the TMC chief. A TMC leader said on condition of anonymity, "We have always opposed FDI in retail, diesel price hike etc. So, we will have to oppose it. But as Didi herself has said, she does not want to topple the government. The UPA needs to meet us halfway at least."
The Congress too is aware that they need to give Banerjee a face saver. A senior Congress leader said that the government could for instance agree to increase the cap on cylinders from 6 to 8 and even possibly cut down the steep Rs 5 hike by a rupee or more but a complete rollback of these decisions is not on the anvil.
The TMC will be holding a meeting on Tuesday September 18 to take a final decision on whether to withdraw its ministers from the Cabinet. According to Congress sources, Banerjee does not want to pull the plug on the UPA, but she definitely wants to get her message across and may pull out her ministers from the cabinet and render outside support to the UPA. The government's decision to ride rough shod over her opposition to FDI in multi-brand retail had incensed her.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders including AK Anthony, Ghulam Nabi Aazd, Vayalar Ravi and Ahmed Patel met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence this evening fuelling speculation about the party strategising to combat this challenge from its coalition partners.
Officially, the Congress maintained that all matters would be resolved. Party spokesperson PC chacko told Business Standard: “There is no political crisis. We have the numbers. All are allies are with us and we are together; problems, if any, will be sorted out.”
The Trinamool Congress 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 UPA government. The TMC is the second largest constituent of the UPA with 19 members in the Lok Sabha.