Rollback uncertain

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 4. Uncertainty surrounds the expected rollback in prices of petroleum products as the Trinamool Congress leader, Ms. Mamta Banerjee has been told the issue will be considered after the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee's knee operation in Mumbai.

Till then, she has been urged to continue her ministerial duties and not to press for her resignation to be accepted.

According to the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, this was conveyed to Ms. Banerjee by Mr. Vajpayee. ``She heard the Prime Minister patiently,'' he said.

With Mr. Vajpayee expected back in the capital only around October 24 after recovering from his knee operation, it is clear any rollback will not take place in the next few days as announced yesterday by Ms. Banerjee in Calcutta. She had declared the Prime Minister had assured her that a decision on rollback of cooking gas, kerosene and diesel prices would be announced after a Cabinet meeting on October 6.

The statement followed several rounds of negotiations with the Prime Minister's special emissary, Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, after the Trinamool Congress leader, along with the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Ajit Panja, had resigned in protest against the hike in petroleum products on September 30.

The situation has now taken a very different turn with Mr. Vajpayee's statement that the government will take a second look at the tariff of petroleum only ``after his return from Mumbai, subsequent to his knee operation''.

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