Mamata Banerjee decides to play hardball with UPA

With the government vulnerable when it comes to voting on financial matters, the Trinamool has become a big headache for the prime minister and the government, says Renu Mittal

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday decided to show the Congress and its leadership their place in her scheme of things by sending a very junior and nondescript MP to attend the prime minister's dinner for allies at 7 Race Course Road. No minister from her party or office bearer was sent, only backbencher Ratna Nag. To add insult to injury she did not even eat at the dinner.

On Wednesday, Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi will present his maiden Railway Budget, but Mamata didi won't be attending as she has decided to leave for Nandigram. The pro-Trinamool television channels have been told to show her Nandigram visit and not the Railway Budget by Dinesh Trivedi.

And on Thursday, Trinamool MPs would sit on a dharna near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside Parliament House to protest against the central government (of which it is a key member) against being denied the financial package that Trinamool has been asking for West Bengal. It is not yet clear whether Mamata Banerjee would allow her MPs to be present in the house for Pranab Mukherjee's general budget or would be busy protesting.

Mamata Banerjee has also refused to part with her surplus votes to ensure the victory of one Rajya Sabha Congress MP from West Bengal saying she can win four seats from West Bengal. The Congress is likely to write to her officially asking her to give the surplus votes to them.

But the Left has again jumped in with the offer of its surplus votes to the Congress with Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury indicating that the Left would be only too glad to give their surplus votes to the Congress to ensure the victory of their candidate. With this manoeuvre the Left intends to score two hits with one stone. It comes closer to the Congress even as it denies Mamata an opportunity to get an extra Rajya Sabha berth. It also ensures that the ongoing friction between the Congress and the Trinamool is further enhanced and highlighted.

Another setback to Mamata Banerjee in her efforts to constitute a third or fourth front is the visit of both Mulayam Singh Yadav and son Akhilesh to meet CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat. The Yadavs and the Samajwadi Party have had a long and deep relationship with the Left parties and the strengthening of this relationship is likely to be bad news for Mamata Banerjee, as she needs the SP on board for the creation of a new front. The Samajwadi Party has decided to give one of its Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh to Kiranmoy Nanda a former left front minister from West Bengal who has close links with Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP will get six seats in the Rajya Sabha.

With the Trinamool having sent a large number of amendments to the President's speech, with the list totaling around 2,000 amendments from various political parties, the government has asked all its allies to be present in full strength in the budget session of Parliament since it apprehends that the opposition may push for voting on a number of issues and the government should not be caught unawares or with less than adequate numbers.

With the government vulnerable when it comes to voting on financial matters, the Trinamool has become a big headache for the prime minister and the government. The attempt is to woo both the Bahujan Samaj Party and SP, which will continue to give outside support and ensure that there is no immediate threat to the government.

With Mayawati filing her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha, Parliament is likely to become that much more colourful. Mayawati is likely to spend a great deal of time building relationships with regional party chiefs in a bid to become the fulcrum on which a new political front can be built.