Trinamool pledges support to govt

Trinamool Congress, the troublesome ally in the Congress-led UPA government, has promised not to oppose the government on the contentious Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill.

Railway Minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last night to dispel apprehensions in the Congress quarters about her party’s stand on this issue. Banerjee told Mukherjee that apprehensions about her party’s position were baseless.

Congress floor managers were worried over the absence of many Trinamool MPs in the Lok Sabha on Monday, when the Opposition united to attack the UPA over the introduction of the Bill. The UPA withdrew the Bill as it feared being outnumbered in case the Opposition pressed for a vote in the introductory stage itself. With 19 MPs, Trinamool Congress is the largest ally of the Congress-led UPA government.

Banerjee’s aides told Business Standard that she even told the finance minister that her party had not yet read the bill elaborately, so the question of opposing the bill did not arise.

Banerjee’s party has started opposing the proposed nuclear power plant in southern West Bengal as the Left-ruled Bengal government is keen to see a Russia-built reactor there. Banerjee’s party has also been assured that the proposed law is not any country or reactor specific, but an umbrella legislation for all future civil nuclear power projects. She also discussed the issue of service tax on railway freight movement with the FM.

Banerjee wants the FM to continue the service tax exemptions on the freight movement. The finance ministry may allow the railways to expand its list of “exempted items”, but it is averse to any complete roll-back of the decision to re-impose service tax.

Banerjee’s assurances come at a time when the UPA is facing the heat from a united opposition, including outside supporters like the Samajwadi Party (SP). The government has already beat a retreat on Monday over this bill, but it may attempt to push it again in the second half of the Budget Session. The Congress needs to garner full support of its allies to sail the Bill through the Lok Sabha, as the opponents are unlikely to change their minds.