Amidst speculations of her party’s stand over the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday. Banerjee was scheduled to come to Delhi on Wednesday evening but she has advanced her arrival by one day.
Although the meeting has been formally sought to appraise the Congress president about the violence in West Bengal—an issue the Trinamool routinely raises in Delhi-- the meeting is assumed significance as Banerjee’s party has indicated that it wants the government to accept the Opposition’s demand for a JPC for a smooth run of Parliament.
Today, the Congress held its core committee meeting and reportedly discussed the parliament strategy along with Andhra Pradesh situation and the proposed Food Security Bill.
When TMC chief whip in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay met Gandhi this morning and sought an appointment for the Trinamool parliamentary team on Wednesday, the Congress politely asked him about the issues he wants to discuss. Bandopadhyay told her that he wants to talk about “other issues and not JPC”.
Gandhi promptly asked if there is actually any issue bigger than the JPC at this moment.
Bandopadhyay told Gandhi that the Trinamool Congress parliamentary group—the team of 19 MPs—wants to meet her to appraise her of the current situation in West Bengal. “We want to inform her how the state-sponsored terrorism is happening in the state. How the chief minister himself is inciting violence and police is firing at innocent people,” Bandopadhyay told Business Standard.
While the two leaders were talking, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stepped in and the talks immediately changed into the current political situation of Delhi.
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Bandopadhyay told Gandhi in front of Mukherjee, “Mamata Banerjee has directed us to extend support to the government as far as the JPC is concerned, the government’s stand is our stand.”
Ruling out any pressure from Trinamool on the government over the issue of JPC, the Trinamool leader told Business Standard, “The UPA is firm and totally united.”