Congress keeps options open, Trivedi set to go

Mangaloretoday/ DHNS

New Delhi, March 15 : With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee adamant on the resignation of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi and a rollback of train fare hikes, the Congress Thursday kept its options open for a compromise, but also appeared to be readying a salvage plan in case it splits with its ally.

Union Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi talking to media Parliament House in New Delhi on Thursday during the ongoing Budget session. PTIThe row over Trivedi’s resignation rocked both house of parliament, with the government deferring the resolution of the crisis till after Friday’s budget and attributing it to the pulls of coalition politics.

 

 

Amid a raging political storm, the Trinamool clarified that a decision on Trivedi’s resignation will be taken in consultation between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Banerjee.

The Congress is understood to have conveyed to Banerjee that the removal of the minister in the middle of the budget session would not send out a positive signal and suggested that the decision be deferred to March-end.

Trinamool leaders met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and conveyed that the party chief wanted an announcement of the rollback of the hike to be done by a new railway minister. Banerjee is pressing for senior party leader and Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy to replace Trivedi.

In Kolkata, Banerjee upped the ante saying Trivedi violated the party discipline by not consulting her or party colleagues on fare hikes, making it virtually certain that Trivedi will have to be moved out.
Addressing the party legislature meeting, Banerjee, however, indicated that she may be amenable to a compromise if the government were to roll back passenger fares in non-AC trains that will hurt the common man.

In New Delhi, the Trinamool hardened its posture over Trivedi’s resignation.
“There is no need of resignation. When needed the prime minister will write to the president informing that he (Trivedi) goes," party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay told reporters.

According to informed sources, there are two possible scenarios. Firstly, the government agrees to either a total or a partial rollback of the increase rail fares for the first time in a decade - leading to a truce between the Trinamool and the Congress-led government.

Alternately, the government sticks to the fare hikes, provoking a belligerent Banerjee to move a cut motion in the budget session, leading to the sense of the house being recorded and a vote taken.
This will effectively mean a parting of ways between the UPA and the Trinamool, as the government looks for a new ally -- possibly the Samajwadi Party, which has 22 MPs -- to save it.

The sources said if it came to the split with its temperamental ally, the Congress would try to rope in the SP to shore up the numbers.

The presence of Parliament Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal at the swearing-in of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow fanned the speculation.

However, the Trinamool denied any plan to dump the UPA government.
"I categorically want to say that the government of UPA II is properly settled and it will complete its term," Bandopadhyay, Trinamool parliamentary group leader, said in parliament.

A defensive government, got more breathing space after another critical ally, the DMK, also said that it too remained with the Manmohan Singh government. "We are part of UPA II and will remain with UPA II," DMK MP T.R. Baalu said.

Trivedi himself rebutted speculation about his resignation.
"Nobody has asked me to resign. I have a duty to perform and see that that the budget is passed by parliament."

The Congress put up a brave face, saying differences within a coalition were but natural.
"Each (coalition partner) has different political compulsions. It is unfortunate but the leadership is looking at it," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters.

The fire fighting started after an explosive start to the fourth day of parliament’s budget session, with an aggressive opposition determined to corner the government.

The finance minister admitted that a letter had been received from Banerjee demanding the scrapping of the rail fare hikes.

After an unrelenting opposition forced an adjournment of the house during question hour, Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha that the railway budget was now the property of the house, which would vote on the proposals.

Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj asked some pointed questions: "Is Dinesh Trivedi’s rail budget dead or alive?"

At a press conference, BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu lambasted the Congress-led government, saying it was falling apart, brick by brick, due to distrust with its key allies.

Ironically, support for Banerjee’s demand came from her biggest foe, the Left.
Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the budget sought to impose a financial burden on the common man and so was not acceptable to his party.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) too came out with a detailed point-by-point criticism of the budget.