Mamata tells her MPs to vote from Bengal
Is Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee worried that some among her flock of 28 MPs might go against her wishes and indulge in cross-voting in the presidential elections slated for July 19? Is it the reason why Ms Banerjee has ordered all her party MPs to be present in Kolkata on July 19, the day earmarked for the presidential polls? In a situation that remains fluid, by Sunday evening Ms Banerjee, who was averse to the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature for the President’s post, had got a letter from him — he is the UPA’s candidate — seeking her support.
Ms Banerjee had earlier asked all her 28 MPs — 19 from the Lok Sabha and nine from the Rajya Sabha — to cast their vote in the state Assembly for the President instead of doing so in Parliament as is the norm. Prompting some party members to wonder if she does not trust her MPs enough to vote as per her diktat and herd them humiliatingly to Kolkata — something that has never happened in West Bengal before. There are indications at present that Ms Banerjee is likely to ask her MPs to not vote at all in the presidential elections given that she has not had her way in the choice of the presidential candidate. Neither is her choice of vice-presidential candidates met with much success so far, with former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Sunday turning down the offer to be a nominee.
His refusal comes close on the heels of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and former LS Speaker Somnath Chatterjee turning down her offer to be fielded for President, prompting some TMC leaders to wonder why their leader does not bother to first check with the persons if they are interested in contesting at all. While Ms Banerjee keeps all guessing about her next move, party circles feel that the TMC should not remain a part of the UPA given their strained relations. However, there is a big question mark on whether Ms Banerjee will be willing to part ways with the UPA and in particular let go of the important infrastructure ministry, the railways, which allows her to rain goodies on Bengal.
Having faced embarrassment after the fiasco involving the announcement of her list of possible candidates for President and the manner in which SP chief Mulayam Yadav pulled the rug from under her feet, it appears she is not willing to burn her fingers again.
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