Petrol price hike: Want better coordination, not rollback, say Mamata MPs ahead of PM meet

Kolkata/New Delhi: Has the Trinamool fury dimmed as it waits to meet the Prime Minister? When all of Mamata Banerjee's 18 MPs meet the Prime Minister at 5 pm on Tuesday to protest against the recent petrol price rise, they will not demand a rollback of that hike. They will "express grievances to the PM."

The Trinamool Congress' Sudip Bandopadhyay said today that what they were demanding from the PM was "participation in these grave issues." The common man was being affected Mamata Banerjee's close aide said and "that is not a good thing. No, we are not asking for a rollback. We are trying to represent the grievances of the common man. Prices of diesel and gas are going to increase, is what we are hearing."

There is little chance anyway of the government stepping in to roll back the hike in petrol prices as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has firmly stated that deregulation is here to stay.

Mamata Banerjee is upset that she was not consulted on the Rs. 1.82 petrol price hike last week. On Friday, she lashed out at the functioning of the government that her party is a significant part of and said her seven ministers in the UPA government were ready to resign. Trinamool sources say those resignation letters are with Ms Banerjee.

While her MPs troop down to Delhi, sources say the West Bengal Chief Minister herself is expected to join a crucial meeting between Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Governor MK Narayanan on the state's fiscal situation tomorrow. The Governor had taken up the financial issue a week after Ms Banerjee had asked the Centre to treat West Bengal "differently" and sought a debt restructuring plan. Ms Banerjee is also expected to meet Mr Mukherjee separately. Chief on that agenda will be the deep fiscal trouble her state is in.

The outcome of both those meetings will bear on the Trinamool's final decision, the one in Kolkata perhaps more. Pradip Bhattacharya of the West Bengal Congress is among those who see the latest Mamata Banerjee threat as a game plan to press for more funds for her state. The angry ally card gives her the opportunity to bargain harder. Mr Bhattacharya says this is "not an empty threat, but I think it will evaporate."

But Mamata's MPs say she is very serious about pulling out her ministers from the UPA government if her demands are not met. "Mamata Banerjee wants to fight for the rights of the common man. The rights and responsibilities of the peoples' representatives must be appreciated. While the responsibilities are, the rights are not being recognised. Like the right to be consulted," Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said this morning. Sudip Bandopadhyay did say, however, that, "Our supremo has said don't take any step without consultations with the PM."

The Trinamool leaders are demanding changes in the operational structure of the UPA coalition; they are also likely to put forward their demand for monthly or quarterly meetings.

Speaking of a scenario in which petrol prices may go down, Petroleum Minister S Jaipal  Reddy said today, "If Finance Ministry can reimburse the oil companies losses, then they can absorb price hike."  He added, "If rupee appreciates significantly, we will announce a cut in petrol prices." (Read: Jaipal Reddy tod NDTV on petrol price hike)

The Congress is not losing any sleep just yet over the Trinamool sulk. It has weathered many Mamata threats. The party is also keeping its distance from the Trinamool episode - politically it cannot justify the petrol hike and has added its voice to the concern over rising prices saying the government must do all it can to reduce the burden on the people. A number of states will see elections in the next few months and the Congress' "aam aadmi" plank will be difficult to balance with petrol now costing Rs. 17 more than it was at the beginning of this year.

So in Delhi, no Congress leader will be present when Trinamool MPs meet the PM, who returns to the country today.

But Congress sources in Delhi too say they expect the issue to be resolved. At worst, they say, Mamata Banerjee might make her one Cabinet Minister, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, resign in token protest. The Congress sources also argue that Ms Banerjee was part of the Group of Ministers that decided to decontrol petrol prices.

Officially, Congress spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi said, "I am very hopeful that we will be able to resolve this stalemate. This matter will get resolved. Let us not flare this issue up as we are doing now."

The Congress' sang froid also stems from other allies like Sharad Pawar's NCP and Farooq Abdullah's National Congress not taking their concern over the rising prices issue to a confrontational level. Mr Pawar backed the Prime Minister on deregulation yesterday, saying, "Anyone who understands world politics will agree with the Prime Minister's statement on the petrol hike. Economists who understand the world economy will agree with him; I'm not one of them though."

The NCP chief emphasised that his party was with the UPA.

The DMK too has said that they will not quit the UPA. "We would uphold alliance dharma," DMK chief M Karunanidhi said.

"We have asked Centre to increase subsidy for petrol. Petrol price hike would lead to overall price hike," he added.

With her 18 Lok Sabha MPs, Ms Banerjee is the Congress' largest ally and an indispensable part of the UPA. Apart from Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, other Trinamool leaders in the government are Mukul Roy, Minister of State, Shipping; Sudeep 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.