Didi shows she is no pushover
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s act of going public with her conversation with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee could help her and her party, the Trinamul Congress, to burnish their credentials as the champions of the common man. Also, it could help the Trinamul to appropriate the Congress party’s slogan of aam aadmi to its advantage, and further cement its position in West Bengal, in the run-up to the panchayat election next year.
At the same time, her announcement that the Centre would put on hold the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail up to 51 per cent, reinforces the political message that the Congress is but only one of many members of the ruling coalition, and that it does not behove of the party to push for radical reforms without even as much as a by your leave.
For Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the options could not be more stark. Will he, as in the case of the Left in 2007, tell the Trinamul off? (“I told them to do whatever they want to do, if they want to withdraw support, so be it,” he had said in an interview to a newspaper.)
Or, will he relent in the belief that “some comprises have to be made in managing a coalition government,” as he had said on February 16 this year in the course of an interaction with some editors of the electronic media?
If the Cabinet decision has indeed been put on hold, as Ms Banerjee said in Kolkata on Saturday, following her telephonic conversation with Mr Mukherjee, then it appears that the Prime Minister has opted for compromise over confrontation till such time as he finds it convenient to operationalise the FDI decision.
However, though an official announcement is awaited, Ms Banerjee left no one in doubt about where the Centre stood. “I have been told that there are no ifs and buts. Unless there is a consensus, the decision will not be implemented,” she said.
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Omar takes dig at mehbooba over afspa
Jammu, Dec. 4: Taking a dig at PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s statement over giving army an “honourable exit” from Jammu and Kashmir, chief minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday sought explanation on the issue and asked whether she meant AFSPA should stay till the armed forces agree to its revocation.
“Mehbooba says I should give the army an honourable exit. Would she care to define that? Does she mean AFSPA should stay till they agree?” Mr Abdullah wrote in mircro-blogging site Twitter. — PTI
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