Mamata undecided over Gujarat vote

kolkata: the nda government cannot take the trinamul congress’s support for granted during the lok sabha vote on gujarat on april 30. “the trinamul congress parliamentary party is yet to decide which way it would vote. the decision will be taken at the parlia-mentary party meeting on april 29,� trinamul-backed independent rajya sabha mp jayanta bhattacharya told tnn.“when mamata announced her party’s support to the nda government, the question of voting under rule 184 was not there. since then, the political climate has changed,� bhattacharya pointed out, a fact endorsed by trinamul state unit president subrata bakshi. he said there was nothing unusual about the indecision faced by the party. “nobody said a thing when 18 congress mps stayed away from the rajya sabha during the vote on poto,� added bhattacharya, hinting that a division in the party over such crucial issues was imminent. “the congress is used to fishing in troubled waters,� he said, pointing out that the trinamul never shied away from calling a spade a spade as was evident in the party’s position over gujarat and budget. trinamul’s indecision over the voting on gujarat reflected the party’s inner turmoil. the party’s desperation to return to the vajpayee ministry is linked to its survival. mamata is going all out to please the prime minister and get back to the centre so that her mps and mlas fall in line. though there is no problem with mamata’s return to the cabinet, it is the second ministerial berth that is causing heartburn among the mps. while lok sabha chief whip sudip bandyopadhyay is a strong claimant, there are others to block him. things came to such a pass that bandyopadhyay even expressed his desire to step down as chief whip. a number of mps feel voting with the nda will be nothing short of political hara-kiri as it would alienate the muslim electorate. again, not backing the government would queer the trinamul’s return to the cabinet and expose the party to defections by the congress. only a meeting between vajpayee and mamata could ease the atmosphere in the trinamul, said insiders. rally: various political parties staged a joint rally at colootala in central kolkata on saturday to demand the resignation of prime minister vajpayee and gujarat chief minister narendra modi. the speakers included provas ghosh of the suci, tapas roy and idris ali of trinamul congress.