Wont bargain for portfolios: Mamata

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata says she will not bargain,but her party is expected to get more than one Union ministry in the new Government.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata says she will not bargain,but her party is expected to get more than one Union ministry in the new Government. Sources said Mamata will get one of the cabinet berths,while another could be allotted to one of her party MPs.

On Sunday,a day after her partys thumping victory in Bengal,Mamata announced that she will form a Trinamool Congress parliamentary committee after meeting all her 19 MPs on Monday. Mamata is also expected to select a leader for the parliamentary unit.

We will take a resolution on various issues,including the question of our participation in the Central Government when I meet our MPs. I will let you know our decision only after that, Mamata told reporters here.

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We are not interested in becoming ministers. We will not bargain with the Congress for getting important portfolios. When I became the railway minister,I did not ask for it, added Mamata,who is expected to leave for Delhi on Tuesday.

While party sources said they were expecting a Cabinet berth along with one or two ministers of state,there are some who think the TMC could end up with as many as four ministers.

Meanwhile,Mamata claimed the CPI(M) had rigged the polls to win eight of the nine seats it got this time. The TMC won 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats it contested.

Mamata said she will now turn her focus on districts like Bankura,Purulia,West Midnapore and Burdwan where her party failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat. She added that her party will complain to the Election Commission about the counting in Balurghat,where they lost to the RSP by 5,105 votes.

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We believe in the people and we will have to win the coming Assembly elections in West Bengal. Saturdays results have given a clear indication that the people have rejected the CPI(M). As far as our results are concerned,we and the Congress jointly have got around 207 of the 242 Assembly segments in West Bengal. I am not sure about the numbers,but I am confident that we will win the coming Assembly elections, Mamata said.

Mamata added that she would talk to her ally,the SUCI,which won the Joynagar Lok Sabha seat,on issuing a joint letter supporting the Congress-led Government.