Mamata gears up to sharpen attack on Centre

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is all set to sharpen her attacks on UPA government during the Budget session.

Mamata has asked her party MPs to scan Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget speech minutely and then use loopholes to drive gains. Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha member Debabrata Bandopadhyay, has been given this responsibility.

Mamata’s first target is to get a near-bankrupt condition for Bengal and the second target is the ensuing Rajya Sabha election, due on March 30.

AICC’s observer for West Bengal Shakeel Ahmed has already met Mamata Banerjee once in Kolkata to discuss the issue, but final decision remained inconclusive.

While talking to TSI, a Trinamool MP said, “Didi dislike the way Pranab Mukherjee uses financial data to prove that West Bengal is not deprived. Pranab told her that he has given whatsoever is constitutionally possible, including the Backward Area Development scheme. But, she discovered that funds have been allotted to all states with backward areas. Then where is the special package?”

In fact, Mamata Banerjee had been assured couple of times by the Prime Minister about this Special Package, even during the election campaign. She accuses government of not honouring its commitments. Now she wants at least three years moratorium on interest payment, so that she can use it for development. According to TMC MP and Union Minister Sudip Bandopadhyay, Bengal pays Rs 22,000 crore annually in the form of interest payment, while yearly revenue earning stands at Rs 21,000 crore.

Bengal will elect 5 members to Rajya Sabha and each candidate needs at least 49 votes to win. With 185 MLAs in hand, Trinamool Congress is sure to win three seats and Left Front is sure to win one seat with its 61 MLAs. Congress intends to contest the fifth seat, but is short of 7 MLAs. To win, Congress needs TMC’s support. TMC considers this as right opportunity to extract maximum from Pranab Mukherjee’s budget in exchange of crucial support to Congress nominee.

However, a section of Congress leaders are against seeking support from TMC to get its candidate elected. They mull seeking support from one SUCI and four GJM MLAs.

“GJM’s demand would not be much,” said a Congress leader. The party is sure of a vote from an Independent MLA, who is basically a Congress man. The biggest headache for Congress is to manage one more vote. But if TMC chooses to field its fourth candidate then it will become very difficult for Congress to win. A Congress MLA, told TSI, “Let TMC put up its fourth candidate and contest against us. It would face a humiliating defeat.”