Day after Mamata supports Pranab,PM lauds her govt

Roy,along with party MP

K D Singh,had turned up for the lunch as Mamata had earlier excused herself from this event,citing her busy schedule.

From the lunch,the TMC MPs took the message back to Mamata that the Congress and the UPA government were willing to let bygones be bygones. “The PM said that he had got reports that earlier the panchayat and block development offices were not functioning well in the Junglemahal area due to extremism,but ever since the new government took over,things been working well,” Roy said. “He also said that the TMC and the Congress have had a long relationship and this friendship will continue,” he added. The PM reportedly told Roy that other states should follow “the West Bengal model” of development and peace in Maoist-affected areas.

In the earlier days of UPA-II,it was Pranab Mukherjee who mediated between the Congress and the TMC,but as Mamata’s equation with Mukherjee went from bad to worse on the question of financial package for debt-ridden Bengal,the PM took up the role of attending to her grievances. The TMC’s coming on board on the issue of support to Mukherjee is being seen as Singh’s success as a deft alliance manager.

According to the TMC camp,words of assurance from the PM,who also holds the Finance portfolio,is a positive signal. But Mamata has made it clear that she would continue to oppose policies,which she had been opposed to,especially the ones mentioned in her election manifesto. For the TMC,the renewed equation with the Congress high-command is being seen as a strategic victory over the CPM,which,the party felt,was hoping to gain from the souring relations between the two allies.

Mukul cites poll to defer Cabinet meet on Bill

Railway Minister Mukul Roy on Wednesday sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting that the Cabinet discussion on the Forward Contract Regulation Act (Amendment) Bill,listed as an agenda item for Thursday’s Cabinet meeting,be deferred. Roy has communicated that he would not be able to take part in the discussion since he would be in Bengal casting vote in the Presidential election. The Bill was deferred earlier as Roy wanted more discussions on it. The TMC is opposed to various provisions of the Bill.