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Mamata is at it again, says no hike
in rail fare and freight charges

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Trinamul Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is once again on a collision course with the Vajpayee government -- this time she is refusing to hike railway fares and freight rates.

Mamata, who is waiting eagerly for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to return from Bombay and announce the promised roll-back in petroleum prices, is likely to use railway fares and freight charges as her bargaining chip.

The prospect of Mamata prevailing upon the prime minister has both Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik worried.

Naik recently told reporters at the Economic Editors' Conference that the country's oil import bill was likely to rise from the last financial year's Rs 530 billion to Rs 810 billion -- a 51 per cent jump.

Sinha, who also addressed the conference, said the government was concerned about the economic slowdown, partly because of higher oil prices.

"The additional Rs 275 crore which the government has to pay on account of diesel price hike (if there is no upward revision) will affect the economy. I am sure better sense will prevail for the overall interest of the country," Naik said.

Vajpayee, before he left for Bombay for a knee surgery, had assured the Trinamul chief that he would review the oil price hike on his return.

Within the BJP, however, the opinion is that the PM should not succumb to Mamata's pressure tactics.

"The entire global economy has been affected by soaring oil prices. It is a harsh economic reality. How can our government succumb to the pressure exerted by one ally...such steps have grave economic implications," said senior BJP leader Jagdish Prasad Mathur.

One BJP Lok Sabha MP, who did not wish to be identified, said even if Vajpayee agrees to a rollback, it would be a nominal one. "At the most, it would be a negligible rollback in one or two petroleum products," he said.

However, there are other political factors that considerably strengthen Mamata's position. The BJP, it's no secret, wants to form the government in West Bengal with the Trinamul's help.

Union Minister for Rural Development M Venkaiah Naidu was in Calcutta the other day and he was quite forthcoming about his party's ambitions in the state.

Mamata, however, has not made any commitments yet, and that is where lies her strength.

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