New Delhi, Sept. 21: It’s their wish. That’s how the Congress dismissed the exit of its biggest ally Trinamul Congress, without any show of emotion — neither of lament nor of liberation.
The party’s media head, Janardan Dwivedi, refused to respond to queries about Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s drastic decision, her condemnation of the Congress for adopting anti-people policies and her acerbic taunt that “FDI-gate was meant to overshadow coal-gate”.
Dwivedi would only say: “They have gone, it’s their wish. I won’t say more.”
The Congress is not willing to engage in a slanging match because of two reasons: first, they don’t want to be seen abusing an ally; second, they realise that Mamata’s power-packed show has rendered the protests by the Left and the BJP irrelevant.
Though some ministers privately said the government felt unshackled now and would do some constructive job, there are leaders in the party who feel Mamata’s pro-people credentials cannot be undermined.
These leaders are convinced the Trinamul chief would not go over to the BJP fold and, hence, there was no point in antagonising her beyond a point.
One senior leader said: “There is no denying the fact that our Bengal unit will fight her with full force but why should Sonia Gandhi and the top leadership lock horns with her? We never do that.”
A Congress general secretary echoed these views, saying, “We don’t see her (Mamata) as an enemy.”
The Congress core committee met this evening after the formal pullout by the Trinamul and decided to unambiguously back the Prime Minister in the reforms push in the coming days too. The party leadership is happy to see the sudden dilution in the perception that the government is paralysed and incapable of delivering good governance. Some more tough decisions are expected to follow.
While Sonia Gandhi is said to have extended full support to the Prime Minister at the core committee, Rahul Gandhi’s thinking is reflected through a strong article in the Youth Congress magazine that has always advocated reforms.
The latest write-up says: “The Prime Minister silenced his critics with a power-packed punch — ushering in FDI in the multi-brand retail, aviation, broadcasting and power sectors.”
It adds: “The icing on the cake is that the Prime Minister has made it clear that there would be no backtracking on the reforms despite the political backstabbing by the so-called allies.” The magazine lays the blame for the opposition to the decision on middlemen who corner maximum gains and a pointless political posturing.
The Congress leadership is trying to cash in on the positive vibes created by these bold decisions by introducing a stronger Cabinet and AICC secretariat in the next few days. Sources said the focus would be on efficiency and clean image — ministers whose names got entangled in the coal scam are set to get the sack.
There is a fierce speculation about a new face in the top four too: external affairs minister S.M. Krishna is most likely the one to create the opportunity for that change. The names of leaders like P.L. Punia, media cell chief Dwivedi, Vilas Muttemwar, Tariq Anwar, Chiranjeevi, Manish Tewari, Girija Vyas, Renuka Chaudhary and Pradip Balmuchu are doing the rounds.
Bengal Congress leaders could be big gainers — Deepa Das Munshi, Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury and Pradip Bhattacharya are likely to be inducted.
Ministers of state like Srikant Jena, Harish Rawat, K.H. Muniyappa and Jyotiraditya Scindia could get a promotion. While the portfolios of Kamal Nath, C.P. Joshi, Jaipal Reddy, Sri Prakash Jaiswal, Veerappa Moily and Vyalar Ravi could be changed, some ministers are being sent to the party and a few are being dropped.
Bengal ministers
The six Congress ministers in the Bengal government will submit their resignations to Mamata tomorrow afternoon as desired by the high command, AICC’s state-in-charge Shakeel Ahmed said tonight. The Congress’s decision came minutes after Trinamul’s six central ministers resigned earlier in the day.
