UPA readies for life after Didi

UPA readies for life after Didi


The Congress-Trinamool divorce seems complete with the government ruling out any rollback of fuel hikes and FDI in retail and Mamata Banerjee insisting there was no room for negotiation.

Within minutes of finance minister P Chidambaram making an emphatic "no rollback" statement on Wednesday, Banerjee said TMC ministers at the Centre would quit on Friday. The CM's charge that the government was "distorting facts" in claiming that the PM tried to reach her only increased the acrimony. Her demand that the number of cheap cooking gas cylinders per family be hiked to 24 a year is clearly unacceptable to the government.

Chidambaram's remarks came after a meeting of the Congress core group where he argued that the diesel price hike and FDI initiatives were essential to fix the government's finances. Sonia Gandhi was informed that there was no scope for a rollback.

The FM pointed to the rupee hardening against the US dollar after last week's announcements, saying that for every Re 1 gained, the economy benefitted by around Rs 8,000 crore. The government couldn't afford to send a negative signal by undoing the reform measures.

Sources said the government is keen to send more reform signals and initiatives blocked by Mamata, like pension and insurance reform, could be back on the table. But some ministers cautioned the situation was fluid. The group of ministers on media, which met after the core committee, took note of the Congress leadership's resolve and decided to adopt an assertive strategy to counter the impression that UPA 2 might have lost stomach for reforms.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's comments at a rally that he would support any party that helped Bihar get "special state" status created a flutter too. Although he was speaking in terms of the next national election and government formation thereafter, his remarks indicated he was not wedded to his alliance with BJP and could be a potential Congress ally. Both SP and BSP also made reassuring noises. Congress also backed the "no rollback" stance and to soften the cooking gas restrictions announced by the government, said all states ruled by it will increase the cap from six to nine. With the party and government on the same wavelength, UPA began to gear up for life after Mamata.

The assessment in government circles is that while survival in Parliament is not an immediate issue, the Centre will have to work hard to quell doubts that its dependence on fickle and demanding parties has increased . Parliament is due to meet only by late November, giving the government time to recover. Congress managers will need to build bridges with smaller parties and ensure BJP's cooperation on key reform legislation.