The Hindu : Trinamool morale low

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 03, 2002

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Trinamool morale low

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA JULY 2. Though efforts are on to persuade the Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee, to join the Union Cabinet, the morale in the party here is generally low.

The party functionaries and supporters, who have been hoping that Ms. Banerjee would get a plum Cabinet berth — not necessarily Railways — and enable them to launch an organised campaign against the ruling Communists in West Bengal are not only dispirited but are also alarmed that the party now runs the risk of a split. This is because several senior leaders, including MPs, actually wanted Ms. Banerjee to join the NDA Government at the Centre.

An overwhelming section in the party believes that Ms. Banerjee should have got into the Cabinet in the first place and then worked towards her objective of securing the Railways portfolio. The decision as of now to stay out of the reshuffled Cabinet on the issue has led to resentment in the party. A few of her advisers have tried to point out that the Trinamool no longer has the numbers to make or break the NDA Government.

Ms. Banerjee's core group has also realised that she cannot hope to oust Nitish Kumar from Railways without the approval of the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, whose critical support is believed to have helped Mr. Kumar to win the battle against her. Party insiders see dismal days ahead including a split, which may bring one of Trinamool's founder and suspended MP, Ajit Panja, and other party MPs together to stake a claim to one or two ministerial berths at the Centre.

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