Kolkata/New Delhi:
A little after her MPs had emerged from an hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister in Delhi, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee said in Kolkata, "If there is another hike in price of petrol or petroleum products, we will pull out of the government." The current crisis in the UPA, brought on by Ms Banerjee's threat of last week that she would quit the UPA government on the recent rise in petrol prices, seems to have been averted.
Though the upset Ms Banerjee was not entirely unforgiving. Talking to a local TV channel, she would still maintain, "I don't agree that petrol prices are increased by oil companies and not by the government." The PM and his ministers have repeatedly explained that after deregulation of petrol last year, prices are subject to market dynamics and are increased or decreased by oil companies.
In New Delhi, the Trinamool Congress' 18 Lok Sabha MPs and six Rajya Sabha MPs met the Prime Minister to lodge their protest against the petrol price hike. They did not seek a rollback; they sought a bigger say in important government decisions. And no resignations were submitted.
Trinamool leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said after the meeting the MPs had shared their concern about a continued rise in prices to the PM who "agreed with our sentiment." He said his party had emerged with the message delivered that the pro-poor Trinamool would "not digest another hike...If there is another fuel price hike, we will rethink our alliance with the UPA," he said, echoing his leader.
(Live Blog)Mr Bandopadhyay said the MPs had also conveyed to the PM that they wanted better communication between allies in the UPA government.
The Trinamool MPs left for Kolkata this evening, where say they will brief their party chief on their meeting with the PM. Though the immediate crisis seemed to have been averted, the MPs said all decisions would be taken by Ms Banerjee. Panchayat elections are due soon in Bengal and Mamata is expected to keep up the pressure.
At the same time that the PM was meeting her MPs, Mamata Banerjee was in a meeting with Finance Minister and the Congress' chief troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee and West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan at the Raj Bhawan, discussing the state's financial health. That meeting was being seen as crucial too to solving the crisis brought on by the latest Mamata sulk. Though ostensibly the Trinamool stance was all about the petrol price hike, sources said Ms Banerjee, who is also the West Bengal chief minister, was trying to drive a hard bargain with the Centre for a hefty financial package for her state, which is in fiscal disarray.
But after the meeting, Ms Banerjee sought to downplay it, describing the meeting as a routine one over tea. She then headed to an art exhibition. But not before she told the local TV channel, "We have discussed a special package for Bengal several times but nothing has come of it. How can I run the state that has so much loan outstanding?"
At the Kolkata airport Pranab Mukherjee said, "Not just the economic package, everything was discussed." He met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as soon as he returned to Delhi.
Earlier in the day he had refused to comment on the possibility of a petrol price hike rollback saying the Prime Minister was discussing the matter with the Trinamool Congress. "Whatever decision the Prime Minister will take, that will be implemented, let us wait for that." The Prime Minister went into the meeting with Mamata's MPs having just been briefed by a worried Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy, who has defended the petrol price hike and warned against a rollback, saying the financial situation of state-owned oil companies is precarious.
The Congress did not lose too much sleep over the episode. Party leaders both in Kolkata and in Delhi had expressed not the slightest doubt that the Mamata crisis would blow over soon - they are by now seasoned in handling a Mamata Banerjee temper bout. Congress leaders crib that the party has much the same complaints against the Trinamool in West Bengal as does Mamata's party at the Centre. In Bengal, they say, the Congress is an important ally of the ruling Trinamool, but is often kept out of major decision-making. Congress leaders have also argued that Mamata Banerjee was part of the Group of Ministers that had approved deregulation of petrol last year, which freed the fuel from subsidy and made prices subject to the market situation.
The Congress' apparent nonchalance notwithstanding, with her 18 Lok Sabha MPs, Ms Banerjee is its largest ally and an indispensable part of the UPA. If Mamata Banerjee withdraws her ministers or walks out, the UPA's numbers will be shaky. Her seven ministers in the government are Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who is the only Trinamool minister with Cabinet rank, Mukul Roy, Minister of State, Shipping; Sudip Bandopadhyay, Minister of State, Health; Saugata Roy, Minister of State, Urban Development; CM Jatua, Minister of State, Information and Broadcasting; Sisir Adhikari, Minister of State, Rural Development and Sultan Ahmed, Minister of State, Tourism.