The Tribune – SP won’t withdraw support to UPA; BJP talks of early polls; Trinamool joins in, says ‘minority’ government must go

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav continued to create ripples in the political space on Friday stating that the party found little merit in withdrawing outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, but foresaw early polls.

Having set national politics abuzz after predicting the emergence of a Third Front, the SP supremo disputed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh remarks that relations with the Congress have not soured to the extent and the party did not discuss the issue of withdrawing support.

“Now there is no question of SP withdrawing support to the UPA government. Why withdraw support and make the government fall when it’s a matter of just eight-nine months?” Yadav told a TV channel.

The eight-month time span mentioned by Mulayam fits his calculation that the Congress is planning to go in for General Elections in November, which coincides with elections to the assemblies in the Hindi heartland states of Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. General Elections are scheduled to be held in the summer of 2014 when the UPA-2 tenure ends.

On its part, the Bharatiya Janata Party, too, sensed the possibility of early polls and dismissed the Prime Minister’s assertion that his government would complete its five-year tenure.

Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad also sought to question the SP for continuing to support the Manmohan government and described as “lollipop” Finance Minister P Chidamabaram’s inauguration of 300 bank branches in Uttar Pradesh to keep a difficult ally in good humour.

The SP chief views came on a day when the Trinamool Congress demanded that the Manmohan government resign since it had been reduced to a minority after the exit of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) from the coalition earlier this month.

Interestingly, the Trinamool attempt to move a no confidence motion against the UPA government had failed to materialise as the party could not gather signatures of 50 MPs required for the motion to be admitted in the Lok Sabha.

Political posturing notwithstanding, the CPM said the reason why parties such as Mulayam’s continue to bail out the Congress-led UPA government and talk of a Third Front is on account of pressure from its own political and social base for a change that would provide for some relief from their present miserable conditions of existence.

“Amidst all such speculations concerning political permutations and combinations, the real aspirations of the people do not receive adequate attention… The economic slowdown, the relentless rise in prices of all commodities, the deepening agrarian distress are all combining to mount unprecedented agonies on the people. The people’s cries for relief and a better livelihood find such political expressions of a ‘Third Front’ government,” party MP and Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said in the party journal.

CPI leader D Raja said the fact that the Prime Minister mentioned uncertainty underlines the fluidity in the current political situation and saw merit in the speculation of early polls in the country.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130330/main1.htm

The Tribune – With Trinamool gone, SP blows hot and cold

K V Prasad, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 23. The dichotomy in the political approach of the Samajwadi Party (SP) is glaring. On one hand it continues to support the UPA government from the outside and on the other it vehemently opposes the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retailing.

The latest in the series of his steps to keep up the pressure on the ruling coalition is a statement by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav saying that he would support a resolution in Parliament against the FDI in retail which the Trinamool Congress is threatening to move during the winter session.

With 22 MPs, the SP chief knows the crucial nature of support for the survival of the Congress-led UPA coalition. On Saturday, after initially suggesting that a view on the resolution could be taken only when a situation arises, Mulayam later told a TV channel that the party will go with the TMC.

On Friday, the SP Parliamentary Board decided to continue support to the UPA on the grounds that it wants to keep the BJP at bay. The next day, the SP supremo goes to meet Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal that has an alliance with the BJP in Punjab.

Separately, Mulayam’s son and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav blames the Manmohan Singh government for the ‘economic mess.’ “The people had voted UPA-1 and UPA-2 to power to deliver goods to people and if it failed in doing so who should be held responsible,” Akhilesh said in Mathura on Saturday when asked for his reaction to Prime Minister’s justification in hiking the price of diesel to reduce fiscal deficit. In the same breath, the young SP leader parroted that the party was standing behind the UPA to keep communal forces away from power but is ready for a snap poll.

The SP attitude is anchored in its deep interest of how its moves will impact political fortunes of the party in Uttar Pradesh and is multi-pronged in its approach. One is to deny space to the Congress there, two, is to prevent its political rival the Bahujan Samaj Party any leverage with the Centre, three, not to upset its support base among Muslim-minorities, and finally by straddling with the Left and other secular allies to keep them on its side with an eye on post- 2014 General Election scenario.

Having burnt its fingers in UP following a tie-up with the Rashtriya Kranti Party of Kalyan Singh, the SP chief is wary of taking any step that could be interpreted of moving closer to the BJP and by supporting the Congress, the party is making sure that Mayawati cannot fill the vacuum created by the SP moving against the Central Government.

Mulayam is of the view that the Congress cannot recover lost ground in many states, including in Bihar, Punjab, Gujarat, UP, West Bengal.

See-sawing, SP style

With 22 MPs, Mulayam knows the crucial nature of support for the survival of the Congress-led UPA coalition

Keeping up the pressure on the ruling coalition, Mulayam now says he would support a resolution, which the Trinamool Congress is threatening to move during the winter session, against the FDI in retail

Earlier, he had suggested that a view on the resolution could be taken only when a situation arises

On Friday, the SP Parliamentary Board decided to continue support to the UPA on the grounds that it wants to keep the BJP at bay. The next day, the SP supremo goes to meet Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the SAD, a BJP ally in Punjab

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120924/main1.htm

The Hindu – Trinamool to move resolution against FDI

Shiv Sahay Singh & Gargi Parsai

Kolkata/New Delhi, September 22, 2012. The Trinamool Congress will move a resolution in the next session of Parliament opposing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, senior party leaders said here on Saturday.

The matter was discussed at a meeting the leaders had with party chairperson Mamata Banerjee at the State Secretariat in Kolkata on Saturday.

Speaking to journalists in New Delhi, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav remained non-committal on whether his party would support the Trinamool resolution. “We are against FDI in retail and we will decide our parliamentary strategy against FDI and other recent government decisions only ahead of the winter session.”

Earlier, Mr. Yadav told a news channel that his party itself might bring such a resolution. Asked about his “flip-flop” on the issue, he shot back: “I stick to whatever I say.”

In Kolkata, senior Trinamool leader and former Union Minister Saugata Roy told The Hindu that the party’s stand “opposing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail has been very consistent and it has raised the issue in Parliament several times.” The party opposed the issue in its election manifesto before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the 2011 Assembly elections, he said.

The party also decided to organise protests in the State and in New Delhi.

Ever since the Trinamool announced its decision to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government, Ms. Banerjee has been campaigning on the issue by posting comments on her Facebook page.

On Thursday, she posted the statement made by the then Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, in the Lok Sabha on December 7, 2011 that a final decision on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail would be taken only after consensus was reached.

Later, she questioned the notification by the UPA government on entry of FDI in retail. “Is it ethical, moral and democratic for a minority government to issue [a] government order forcefully and hurriedly when massive protest against it is taking place across the country?”

Mulayam meets Badal

Mr. Yadav declined to divulge details of his meeting earlier in the day with Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal saying he was the son of his old friend, Prakash Singh Badal. The meeting should not be seen as a move towards formation of a Third Front, he added.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/trinamool-to-move-resolution-against-fdi/article3926510.ece

The Asian Age – Congress-Mamata negotiations on

Sanjay Basak, Asian Age Correspondent

Tuesday, 18 September 2012. With Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee sticking to her aggressive stance, the government has reportedly initiated back-channel talks to pacify her. Ms Banerjee has threatened “drastic measures” if the Centre fails to reverse the hike in diesel prices and doesn’t raise the number of subsidised LPG cylinders.

The 72-hour deadline set by the Trinamul chief to roll back these steps, as well as FDI in multi-brand retail, ended Monday.

The TMC is expected to take a final decision at its parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday.

Sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might speak to Ms Banerjee in this regard. Congress president Sonia Gandhi met top party colleagues on Monday to discuss the scenario. Congress leaders said they were “optimistic” of a solution emerging. I&B minister Ambika Sonia said “negotiations were on”, and claimed Trinamul “will not do anything to jeopardise the UPA’s stability”.

If there is a positive signal from Trinamul, the government may look at the option of raising the number of subsidised LPG cylinders from six to 10.

http://www.asianage.com/india/congress-mamata-negotiations-776

The Hindu – Trinamool Congress ‘Will continue to oppose anti-people policies of UPA’

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata, 18 July 2012. Though she has extended her support to Pranab Mukherjee, nominee of the United Progressive Alliance for President, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said here on Tuesday that her party would continue to oppose the “anti-people” policies of the Alliance.

“We will not support anti-people policies such as increase in the prices of essential commodities, rise in petrol price, foreign direct investment in retail and insurance, setting up special economic zones (SEZ) and forcible land acquisition,” she said.

As a constituent of the UPA, the Trinamool Congress had opposed the Centre on issues that the party had spoken out against in its election manifesto. “We have not deviated from our commitment even on a single issue and will not do so in future.”

Ms. Banerjee expressed her disappointment over not being consulted on major policy issues by the UPA government.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3650322.ece 

The Tribune – Mamata prevails, Trivedi goes

Tribune News Service & PTI

Kolkata/New Delhi, March 18. Dinesh Trivedi resigned today as Railway Minister ending his defiance and bringing to a close five-day drama after he incurred the wrath of Trinamool Congress for hiking passenger fares in the Railway Budget.

Trivedi, 61, spoke to the Trinamool chief and West Bengal chief minister on Sunday evening and assured her that he would be sending his resignation to the Prime Minister shortly. This was disclosed by Mamata Banerjee herself at Kolkata airport, just before she boarded a plane for New Delhi, where she has sought a meeting with the Prime Minister.

Banerjee told the media that Trivedi would continue to be a Trinamool MP. Her decision to convene a meeting of the Parliamentary Party on Monday at 2 pm sent alarm bells ringing in Delhi. Trinamool MPs privately confided that if Trivedi failed to resign before the Parliament session on Monday, the Parliamentary Party of Trinamool Congress would formally adopt a resolution to withdraw support from the UPA Government.

Once the game plan of Mamata became clear in New Delhi, Trivedi was hurriedly advised to speak to Mamata and resign from the Union Council of Ministers.

Dinesh Trivedi told the media in New Delhi that he decided to speak to Mamata Banerjee and end the prevailing ‘confusion’ over the party’s stand. Banerjee communicated to her the party’s decision that he should resign and as a ‘disciplined soldier’ of the party, he decided to fall in line.

It is not clear, however, whether Banerjee will be satisfied with just Tivedi’s resignation or whether she would demand a rollback. She has already taken the public position that she would not accept the passenger train fare hikes.

Trinamool spokesmen have gone on record to state that “anything that hurts the common man is not in the party’s DNA”.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120319/main1.htm

The Hindu – Trivedi attends Parliament, parries questions on resignation

Amid reports that he had already sent his resignation to the Prime Minister, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi attended Parliament, saying it was his “duty”.

New Delhi, 15 March 2012.  Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, whose party has demanded his removal, on Thursday attended Parliament, saying it was his “duty” as a Minister but parried questions on his resignation.

A day after Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded his sacking, Mr. Trivedi said he would be in Lok Sabha during Question Hour as scheduled to reply to queries raised by members.

“I am going to Parliament as a Minister. I have come for Question Hour. I have to answer my questions. I am doing my duty, let me do that please” he told reporters at his residence and outside Parliament House before entering Lok Sabha shortly before the commencement of Question Hour in the House. Mr. Trivedi was seated in the front row in the Treasury Benches.

The Trinamool leader declined to answer when asked whether he had resigned. “Let’s see what happens. I have to go…,” he said. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2997804.ece?homepage=true

The Hindustan Times – TMC upbeat about becoming national party soon

Kolkata, 9 March 2012. Encouraged by its performance in the just-held Manipur Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress said it was moving closer to being recognised as a national party.

To become a national party, a political outfit has to get recognised as a state party in at least four states and the TMC has earned that tag in three states, Mukul Roy, all India general secretary of the party, said.

“We are moving towards becoming a national party. After Manipur, the Trinamool Congress has the distinction of being recognised as a state party in three states, the other two being West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh,” Roy, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, told PTI.

While in West Bengal, he pointed out, the party had bagged 185 out of 294 seats, in Arunachal Pradesh it secured five seats out of 60.

TMC, a new entrant to Manipur politics, will become the main opposition party in the 60-member House by virtue of winning seven seats.

Asked if the party was hoping to achieve the national status after the Assembly election in Tripura in 2013, he said there would be elections in some states prior to Tripura.

He said that newly-elected party legislators in Manipur would make a “courtesy call” on party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday.

On whether party MLAs in Manipur would press for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in operation in the state, Roy said, “Party MLAs there would work in accordance with commitments made in the election manifesto.” (Press Trust Of India)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/TMC-upbeat-about-becoming-national-party-soon/Article1-822658.aspx