UPA's 'M-Cube' support now tottering

The Mulayam-Mayawati-Mamata trio is keeping the Manmohan Singh-led govt on tenterhooks as it reviews its support

At the peak of the Coalgate crisis when Opposition BJP had brought the Parliament to a standstill, senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury when asked about the possibility of a mid-term poll, said as long as “M-Cube or Mulayam, Mayawati and Mamata” continue to support the UPA, the government will face no trouble. At present, it is this bulwark of support that is posing to be worrisome for the UPA. ‘M cube’ is keeping the UPA on tenterhooks as it reviews its support for the reformist avatar of the Manmohan Singh-led government. The Trinamool Congress in fact has given the UPA government a 72-hour deadline to revoke its decisions.      

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has already made her displeasure felt at the reforms unleashed by the government “without consulting its second largest ally”. It has demanded that the diesel price hike, limiting the number of domestic LPG cylinders, the decision on opening up FDI in multi-brand retail be rolled back and revoked. The TMC also brought Kolkata city to a stand still on Saturday as Banerjee led a massive protest march through the city.

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 sources, while Banerjee does not want to pull the plug on the UPA, she definitely wants to get her message across. So she is likely to pull out her ministers from the cabinet and render support to the UPA, much like what the Left parties did during UPA-I.”

Samajwadi party which has bailed out the UPA in times of crisis as it did during the nuclear deal is also unhappy with the recent reforms. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, senior leader Ramgopal Yadav have both stated that they are against the decision to open up FDI in multi- brand retail.

Mayawati led BSP has also reacted unfavorably to the recent reforms blitzkrieg of the UPA. Like the SP it too will be hitting the streets protesting against the reform policies but as sources confirm they will stop short of withdrawing support from the UPA. Their rationale: supporting UPA is a move to keep at bay communal forces led by the BJP. 

The Left parties meanwhile, which have been most vocal in their opposition to the “sell out of the country by the UPA” , have been taking potshots at bete noire Mamata Banerjee. Speaking in the same voice as the BJP, the Left has been questioning “Why is the TMC waiting for 2014, why not pull out now, is it is indeed so dead against the decisions for being anti-aam aadmi.”

The Congress led UPA atleast for now is maintaining a brave face with party spokespersons saying that they were confident their allies would stick by them. P C Chacko said, “We have the numbers, and there is no crisis.”