Will the Congress-Trinamul alliance last?
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury
Mamata Baneerjee, chief minister of the Indian state of Paschimbanga and Trinamul Congress party supreme, has exploded a political bombshell. She has asked the Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi to quit the Trinamul-Congress alliance government in the state if the latter feels uncomfortable with the main alliance partner.
This means Mamata has no problem if the Congress chooses to leave the state coalition government. In fact, her comment amounts to asking the Congress, even without whose support she is quite unassailable in the state legislature, to leave the government headed by her. This has not come as a surprise since the ties between the two parties have recently come under severe strain centering a variety of issues.
The latest differences cropped up over Trinamul's role in the Indian parliament when it did not support a Congress bill on anti-graft measures in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) and consequently the bill could not be passed even though it was approved in the lower house (Lok Sabha).This has angered the Congress-led government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh, but it had to swallow the bitter pill since Trinamul's support is necessary for the survival of the coalition government. Although it is a constituent of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the position taken by the Trinamul on the issue was close to that of the opposition parties.
Another sensitive matter that has further exacerbated the relations between the two political allies, is the decision of the Paschimbanga state government to change the rename of the "Indira Gandhi Bhavan" in Kolkata as "Poet Nazrul Islam Bhavan". Evidently, the Congress has not relished the decision as it saw it as downgrading its leader late prime minister Indira Gandhi although it has no lack of respect for rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
The discord within the alliance began a few months ago when the central government once again increased the prices of the petroleum products, which came under severe criticism from the Trinamul Congress that swept to power in the Paschimbanga state eight months ago riding on a massive popular support. Since the party is a constituent of the central government led by the Congress, it evidently did not want to take the burden of the unpopular measure of increasing the prices of such essential products that affect the common people. Besides, the Trinamul Congress alleged that it was not at all consulted before taking such a critical decision and hence it gave vent to its anger and frustration.
This development had come as a surprise to different circles since it had all the potentials of triggering a political crisis that would have far-reaching consequences. True, the Congress and Trinamul had forged an alliance before the last "Lok Sabha" elections and then maintained it during the Paschimbanga state assembly polls. Both the parties have benefited from the alliance, which increased their respective tally in the federal parliament and a landslide win in the state polls by demolishing the leftist citadel. However, this advantage was mainly for the Trinamul which is the strongest political party in the state of Paschimbanga, although the party is confined only within this state.
The Trinamul alone has nearly a two-third majority in the Paschimbanga Vidhan Shaba while it has only 20 seats in the federal parliament, where the Congress has 209 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Although having only 20 seats, the "Trinamul" is crucially important for the Congress as the main alliance partner has to rely on the support of the smaller parties for a majority in the House. If the 20 Lok Sabha members of Trinamul withdraw their support, then the Congress-led UPA alliance will suffer a serious setback and it may even threaten the existence of the Dr Manmohan Singh government.
The situation saw senior Congress leader and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rushing to Kolkata for talks with Mamata Banerjee and also a team of Trinamul leaders, including the central government ministers belonging to the party, meeting the Indian prime minister and other senior Congress leaders in New Delhi. It was understood that the Congress had apologised to the Trinamul for not consulting on the price hike of petroleum products and assured that it would not happen again.
Indeed, it was a serious discord between the two alliance partners and it came close on the heels of a misunderstanding relating to the proposed signing of the Teesta river water-sharing accord during the Indian prime minister's visit to Bangladesh in September last year.
However, both parties have limitations and constraints. The UPA government of Dr Manmohan Singh obviously needs the Trinamul support for remaining in the power while the latter is conscious of the fact that its plans to develop the railway system and overall progress in Paschimbanga would suffer badly if the support is withdrawn. As a result, both seemed cautious about their steps, but some other issues aggravated their ties and it is in this context that Mamata Baneerjee has fired the first salvo about the state of alliance between the two parties.
The temporary "truce" that was reached between the two estranged allies in the aftermath of the recent misunderstandings now appears to be quite fragile. The reaction of the Congress on Mamata's latest comment relating to the party's involvement in the Paschimbanga state government was not known till the writing of this column. However, it is understandable that the Congress is unlikely to take the comment kindly. The ties between the two parties may deteriorate unless both sides move quickly to repair the damages that look be quite serious in nature.
Against this backdrop, the speculation that is making the rounds in the Indian political circles is that the Congress-Trinamul alliance may not last long. While the Congress may still be keen to maintain a working relationship because of the nature of the coalition government at the centre, the Trinamul may not be that eager to remain in the alliance. If the alliance finally collapses, it will have far-reaching repercussions in the Indian political scene.
zaglulbss@yahoo.com
Mamata Baneerjee, chief minister of the Indian state of Paschimbanga and Trinamul Congress party supreme, has exploded a political bombshell. She has asked the Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi to quit the Trinamul-Congress alliance government in the state if the latter feels uncomfortable with the main alliance partner.
This means Mamata has no problem if the Congress chooses to leave the state coalition government. In fact, her comment amounts to asking the Congress, even without whose support she is quite unassailable in the state legislature, to leave the government headed by her. This has not come as a surprise since the ties between the two parties have recently come under severe strain centering a variety of issues.
The latest differences cropped up over Trinamul's role in the Indian parliament when it did not support a Congress bill on anti-graft measures in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) and consequently the bill could not be passed even though it was approved in the lower house (Lok Sabha).This has angered the Congress-led government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh, but it had to swallow the bitter pill since Trinamul's support is necessary for the survival of the coalition government. Although it is a constituent of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the position taken by the Trinamul on the issue was close to that of the opposition parties.
Another sensitive matter that has further exacerbated the relations between the two political allies, is the decision of the Paschimbanga state government to change the rename of the "Indira Gandhi Bhavan" in Kolkata as "Poet Nazrul Islam Bhavan". Evidently, the Congress has not relished the decision as it saw it as downgrading its leader late prime minister Indira Gandhi although it has no lack of respect for rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
The discord within the alliance began a few months ago when the central government once again increased the prices of the petroleum products, which came under severe criticism from the Trinamul Congress that swept to power in the Paschimbanga state eight months ago riding on a massive popular support. Since the party is a constituent of the central government led by the Congress, it evidently did not want to take the burden of the unpopular measure of increasing the prices of such essential products that affect the common people. Besides, the Trinamul Congress alleged that it was not at all consulted before taking such a critical decision and hence it gave vent to its anger and frustration.
This development had come as a surprise to different circles since it had all the potentials of triggering a political crisis that would have far-reaching consequences. True, the Congress and Trinamul had forged an alliance before the last "Lok Sabha" elections and then maintained it during the Paschimbanga state assembly polls. Both the parties have benefited from the alliance, which increased their respective tally in the federal parliament and a landslide win in the state polls by demolishing the leftist citadel. However, this advantage was mainly for the Trinamul which is the strongest political party in the state of Paschimbanga, although the party is confined only within this state.
The Trinamul alone has nearly a two-third majority in the Paschimbanga Vidhan Shaba while it has only 20 seats in the federal parliament, where the Congress has 209 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Although having only 20 seats, the "Trinamul" is crucially important for the Congress as the main alliance partner has to rely on the support of the smaller parties for a majority in the House. If the 20 Lok Sabha members of Trinamul withdraw their support, then the Congress-led UPA alliance will suffer a serious setback and it may even threaten the existence of the Dr Manmohan Singh government.
The situation saw senior Congress leader and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rushing to Kolkata for talks with Mamata Banerjee and also a team of Trinamul leaders, including the central government ministers belonging to the party, meeting the Indian prime minister and other senior Congress leaders in New Delhi. It was understood that the Congress had apologised to the Trinamul for not consulting on the price hike of petroleum products and assured that it would not happen again.
Indeed, it was a serious discord between the two alliance partners and it came close on the heels of a misunderstanding relating to the proposed signing of the Teesta river water-sharing accord during the Indian prime minister's visit to Bangladesh in September last year.
However, both parties have limitations and constraints. The UPA government of Dr Manmohan Singh obviously needs the Trinamul support for remaining in the power while the latter is conscious of the fact that its plans to develop the railway system and overall progress in Paschimbanga would suffer badly if the support is withdrawn. As a result, both seemed cautious about their steps, but some other issues aggravated their ties and it is in this context that Mamata Baneerjee has fired the first salvo about the state of alliance between the two parties.
The temporary "truce" that was reached between the two estranged allies in the aftermath of the recent misunderstandings now appears to be quite fragile. The reaction of the Congress on Mamata's latest comment relating to the party's involvement in the Paschimbanga state government was not known till the writing of this column. However, it is understandable that the Congress is unlikely to take the comment kindly. The ties between the two parties may deteriorate unless both sides move quickly to repair the damages that look be quite serious in nature.
Against this backdrop, the speculation that is making the rounds in the Indian political circles is that the Congress-Trinamul alliance may not last long. While the Congress may still be keen to maintain a working relationship because of the nature of the coalition government at the centre, the Trinamul may not be that eager to remain in the alliance. If the alliance finally collapses, it will have far-reaching repercussions in the Indian political scene.
zaglulbss@yahoo.com