New Delhi, March 2: Driven by electoral compulsions, the strident stance has given way to a softer line. So the Congress can now breathe easy with key allies like the Trinamul Congress and the DMK declaring on Tuesday that the coalition, and in turn the
government, did not face any threat despite their protests against the increase in fuel prices in the Union Budget.
What has prompted this change of tack on the part of both parties is that they face Assembly elections in their respective home states next year. The Trinamul will need the support of the Congress if it is to capture Writers’ Buildings in Kolkata and therefore would not like to burn its bridges with it right now.
Besides this, Ms Mamata Banerjee’s party is also looking to get some more goodies for West Bengal from the Centre in the run-up to the Assembly polls. Ms Banerjee also needs to factor in the compulsions it faces due to the coming elections to 82 municipalities in West Bengal, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
Both allies of the Congress had expressed their strong displeasure with the hike in the prices of petro products immdiately after the Budget announcement last week. The leaders of both parties, Ms Banerjee and DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, sent letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi protesting against the hike and demanding a rollback.
The support of these two parties is crucial for the Congress-led UPA given that the DMK has 18 MPs and Trinamul 19 members in the Lok Sabha, which has a total strength of 543. The UPA strength in the House, including the outside support of the SP and BSP, totals 323.
On Tuersday, both the Trinamul and the DMK appeared to have adopted a more “undertstanding” view of the increases. Ms Banerjee said in Kolkata: “We don’t want to get into any quarrel. In a democracy, different political parties have their own positions, and our party has also articulated its view.”
The Trinamul chief said her party would continue to press for a rollback while continuing to remain a part of the UPA as this was the “democratic way”. She added: “In a democratic setup, nobody quarrels but everybody expresses their view. We have appealed to the government to reconsider.”
In Chennai, Mr Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, a DMK Rajya Sabha member, was also singing a slightly different tune. “There will be different points of view in a coalition government, but it doesn’t mean the alliance has to break.” She went on to add: “Sorry to say ... what many people hope for will not happen.” This was an indirect reference to fears that the UPA alliance might flounder in the wake of the protests over the fuel price hike.
Age Correspondent