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Mamta may rock NDA boat

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Trinamul Congress chief Mamta Banerjee's ultimatum to central emissary George Fernandes that he either "heed my request " or "be prepared for the worst " has cast doubts on the stability of the Vajpayee government.

According to a senior official in the ministry of home affairs, Mamta told Fernandes that she is finding it difficult to assuage the people of the violence-affected areas of the state who want the state government dismissed by the Centre under Article 356 of the Constitution.

The defence minister was sent as the National Democratic Alliance emissary by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to assess the law and order situation in West Bengal. This was following a virtual threat by the Trinamul chief that her party would quit the NDA if the Vajpayee government did not heed her demand.

Although Mamta had assured Vajpayee (before he left for the US) that she would do nothing to destabilise the NDA or the government, her snub to Fernandes has caused disquiet in government circles.

The MHA official pointed out that by snubbing the central emissary (Mamta refused to meet Fernandes when he toured the violence-affected Keshpur, Garbeta and Chandrakona villages in West Bengal ), she had cocked a snook at Vajpayee himself.

Fernandes in his report to Union Home Minister L K Advani is understood to have emphasised that the Trinamul chief has perceived the chance to replace the Left Front government headed by Jyoti Basu in the state and will stop at nothing to fulfil her chief ministerial aspirations.

Government intelligence has already reported to the MHA that with the awareness that she cannot become the state chief minister without the support of the Muslims in the state, Mamta is planning to ditch the NDA for which she is looking for a suitable excuse.

"Much is being said about the Trinamul chief's unpredictability and impulsiveness," said BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu. "But I am sure she knows that the Vajpayee government is her best bet in her party's fight against the Marxist tyranny in West Bengal," he pointed out.

BJP sources maintained that Fernandes had told Mamta that both Advani and BJP president Bangaru Laxman would shortly be visiting the state and the issue of President's Rule could be discussed then. They also pointed out that Fernandes had underlined the Vajpayee government's earlier experience when President's Rule clamped in Bihar during the Rashtriya Janata Dal rule had misfired because it did not have the requisite majority in the Rajya Sabha.

However, Mamta's adamant stand that her party was "obliged and honour-bound" to primarily take care of the needs and aspirations of the people of West Bengal has shown that Vajpayee will have to tread carefully in dealing with her.

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