Mamata-Congress rift a bit surprising
A series of episodes in recent months have raised questions about the quality of the relationship between the Congress and its most valuable UPA-2 ally in terms of Lok Sabha numbers, the Trinamul Congress. In all of these incidents — the aborted Teesta waters treaty with Dhaka, or the gap between the two parties in Parliament over FDI in multi-brand retail and the Lokayukta for the states, to take but two examples — differences appear to be relating to policy, which Trinamul chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alone decides in her party. But from both sides it is lower-level players who have articulated differences and engaged in name-calling. On Saturday, though, it was different: Ms Banerjee herself publicly invited the Congress to leave the coalition government in the state if it so desired.
The top rungs of the Congress have not responded to the provocation. Indeed, the party’s spokesman has sought to be emollient. But moments such as these cannot but cause anxiety for a ruling coalition. Ms Banerjee’s decision to rename Indira Bhavan in Kolkata and call it Nazrul Bhavan might sound only symbolic — aimed at mobilising Bengali nationalism as well as Muslim pride as a political tool, with the long term in view. But it does appear to be a calculated slight. The Marxists in Bengal had not thought to craft such humiliation for the Congress at the worst moments in their ties with that party, given the place of Indira Gandhi in the Congress’ iconography and in the country’s history.
Ms Banerjee’s purpose in shovelling an anti-Congress line is not wholly clear. Perhaps she cares only for untrammelled power in the state, minus an alliance partner, and not at all for a place in the scheme of power at the national level, at least for now. This is, of course, shortsighted. Even at the height of the anti-CPI(M) sentiment sweeping West Bengal, on her own she could not have won the Assembly seats the way she did, although the Congress is clearly the junior partner. In the Left Front, the CPI (M) had enough numbers to go it alone when it ruled, but it never let go of the smaller Left parties although it scrapped with them all the time. From the Congress’ perspective, a fight is not worth it at all. Perhaps this is a reason why the party is now conceding the need for a coordination committee, reminiscent of the days when the Left supported UPA-1. Should the Trinamul remain nettlesome, UPA-2 can survive through dealings with parties like the Samajwadis and the RJD, though it might be a precarious existence. This is the concern that the Congress leadership is now obliged to address.
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