Much to the discomfort of the UPA, the temperamental chief minister of West Bengal, Ms Mamata Banerjee, appears to be going the way of her Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Ms Mayawati. Even after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh instructed food minister K.V. Thomas to speak to Ms Banerjee to address her concerns on the Food Bill, his ministry appears to be running from pillar to post to get an appointment with the Trinamul Congress chief.
Sources said that Mr Thomas’ secretariat had been speaking to anybody connected with Ms Banerjee to get an appointment but the only response that they are getting is that the Union minister could speak to state minister for food Jyotipriya Mullick. “It’s over two months now and so far we have spoken to all concerned with her. There is no point for Mr Thomas to speak to Mr Mullick when it’s known that all the official reservations of the state government have already been agreed upon,” said a senior official, who added that just as Ms Mayawati meets only the Prime Minister, the same appears to be the case with Ms Banerjee too.
Even though the food minister has got no appointment yet, Mr Thomas said on the concluding day of the two-day-long social editors’ conference here that he would be going to Kolkata on March 2 and would hopefully meet Ms Banerjee to address her concerns on the Food Bill.
He also said that he would be meeting Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa shortly to address concerns raised by her in a letter to the PM. When asked about the reservations of West Bengal and other governments, he said if the states want to universalise the Food Security Bill they could do so but they would have to bear the additional financial burden.
In a desperate measure, Mr Thomas’ office had even sought the help of TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, but that too has been of no avail. “If she does not want to meet a Union minister, then what can be done? We are trying our best,” added the senior official. However, Mr Thomas said that he would be seeking to build a political consensus to ensure that the Food Bill is passed at the earliest.