Calcutta, Jan. 10: Congress leaders in Delhi who are upset because of Mamata Banerjee’s public outburst against the Centre today said they would speak to her during her stay in the capital.

The Trinamul Congress chief, however, kept up the heat, alleging that the Centre could not shun its responsibility for the spiralling prices of essentials.

“The Centre cannot escape its responsibility, though the Bengal government is also responsible for the mess. Why is the state government not properly implementing the Essential Commodities Act to punish those hoarding essentials?” she asked.

“The Centre is not doing its bit to check prices…. I had requested a meeting of all chief ministers and an all-party meeting to discuss steps to control prices. Nothing has been done so far,” she added.

Yesterday, Mamata had accused the Centre of “surrendering to the CPM” and “providing oxygen to the party” by sending forces to Lalgarh. She had even announced an agitation to highlight the “ineffectiveness” of the anti-Maoist offensive.

Congress general secretary K. Keshava Rao said Mamata’s statements had “embarrassed” the party. “We were shocked to see Mamataji’s statements in the papers…. Being an ally of the UPA, she should realise that her outburst against the Centre would show us in poor light before the people.”

Rao and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee are likely to meet the railway minister, who left for Delhi today.

Rao dismissed Mamata’s charge of “surrendering to the CPM”. “No question of surrendering to the CPM. We are getting ready to oust the CPM from Bengal in 2011. But the ground reality is that the state government has to be taken into confidence about the operation against Maoists by the joint forces,” he said.

A Mamata aide tonight said she would meet Union home minister P. Chidambaram tomorrow and submit a “fresh list of people who were killed in Bengal during the past fortnight” to prove the ineffectiveness of the joint operation.

A Trinamul leader said the price-rise blame was “a pressure tactic” but yesterday’s assault had two specific objectives: to send a message to Delhi about the need to contain the Maoist violence and prove that she had distanced herself from the guerrillas.

CPM leaders had earlier met the Prime Minister and the home minister and accused Trinamul of being in cahoots with the Maoists.

A Trinamul vice-president also attributed Mamata’s “sudden outburst” to her desire for the “limelight”. “She has a habit of hogging the limelight. But for over a week, an ailing Jyoti Basu had been dominating the headlines,” he said.

Railway minister Mamata is scheduled to meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Delhi on Tuesday.