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Trinamool will quit NDA soon, says Mamata

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA OCT. 1. Upset over the way the Centre ignored her plea to stall the Eastern Railway bifurcation plan, the Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, has indicated that she would sever her links with the BJP-run National Democratic Alliance soon.

Ms. Banerjee said today that she had "exhausted all options" as the Vajpayee Government at the Centre had done nothing to reverse the Cabinet decision.

The Trinamool today staged black flag demonstrations in West Bengal to protest the creation of the East-Central Railway zone. The party's working committee would meet this month-end to endorse Ms. Banerjee's views on the party's relationship with the NDA. When the committee met last time, it was decided that the party would dissociate itself from the NDA if the Centre did not play any "positive" role on the issue.

Observers said Ms. Banerjee was likely to face opposition from some party MPs on the issue of quitting the NDA. Sudip Bandopadhyay, prominent parliamentarian, made his mind known on the issue at the last working committee meeting, saying that it was not politically correct to keep a distance from the NDA on the bifurcation issue. It would be wise if the party continued to be a part of the NDA, joined the Ministry and battled for a rollback of the bifurcation plan, he had said.

Ms. Banerjee is not concealing her "hurt" feelings anymore. "For the past few months, we in the Trinamool battled for justice. We had hoped for a favourable gesture from the Prime Minister. He could do so much on the Cauvery water dispute but did nothing on bifurcation. The decision is clearly a political one." Ms. Banerjee also threatened to "teach the Centre a lesson" at the right time. She described the BJP leadership as "political opportunists of sorts" who had leaned on her when it required her support for survival. "We will not take this lying down. We will most certainly fight back," she said.

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