The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is on tenterhooks as its troublesome allies look set to give it a tough time this Budget session, after a nearly washed out Winter session. So even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured the UPA “had the numbers”, it extended an invite to regional satraps like the BSP and the SP to attend the PM’s dinner for allies.
What further fuelled speculation of trouble within the UPA coalition partners was news of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar agreeing to attend SAD leader and Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s swearing in. The fact that the ever troublesome ally Trinamool Congress will be sending its representative to attend the swearing in of both the UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav and Badal, is something that the Congress will have to contend with.
On Monday, parliamentary affairs minister Rajeev Shukla made special efforts to clarify that contrary to media reports the PM had not made any attempt to dissuade TMC chief Mamata Banerjee from attending the swearing in ceremonies of these two leaders.
