Trinamool decision on joining NDA today

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, JULY 11. A beleaguered Ms. Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress chief, is meeting her MPs tomorrow to find the solution to three key issues which have the potential of splitting the party.

The meeting will decide on Trinamool's likely return to the BJP- led NDA but only after assessing the damage potential of two interlocked issues - the collapsing Congress-Trinamool alliance in and outside the assembly and the taming of the recalcitrant MP, Mr. Ajit Panja. The issue of the feuding Trinamool councillors and legislators is also likely to figure during the meeting. By all accounts, the Congress-Trinamool alliance, which showed signs of cracking after the Assembly election, has now collapsed. The parties, which had decided to project a unified face at least inside the Assembly, have decided to go it alone.

Not a day passes without each accusing the other of taking unilateral decisions. For instance, if Congress MLAs stage a walkout, their Trinamool counterparts stay put. If Trinamool MLAs raise an issue, Congress legislators look the other way.

Relations between parties worsened after Ms. Banerjee announced in public a few days ago that she considered the alliance ``a burden''. Predictably, State Congress functionaries did not take it too kindly. Reports of the Trinamool returning to the NDA also widened the rift.

Ms. Banerjee is aware that the moment she returns to the NDA, the Congress will try to play havoc with her party. But she is helpless because if she decides against it, her MPs will desert her and join Mr. Panja. What is worrying her the most now is the BJP's insistence on accommodating Mr. Panja in the Ministry along with her. Ms. Banerjee is not willing to be part of such a Ministry.

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Section  : National
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