On Mamata,Pranab table: Cong participation,economic package

The meeting,though officially described as “routine” and a courtesy call on Mamata,discussed the nitty gritty of government formation and its priorities,top TMC sources said. It was learnt that Mamata discussed the possibility of a “special economic package” for West Bengal to overcome the financial crisis left behind by the Marxists,and as a gesture of goodwill to the people for their historic mandate.

The talks on the economic package were described as “preliminary”. The issue is likely to be taken forward when Mamata visits Delhi in the next couple of days to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi,both of whom congratulated her yesterday.

The retention of the Union railway portfolio by the Trinamool,and the participation of the Congress in the new state government too featured in the talks. Mamata had yesterday invited both alliance partners,Congress and Socialist Unity Centre of India,to join her government.

Mamata will submit her resignation as railway minister during her visit to Delhi. But she made it clear to Mukherjee that the Trinamool would like to keep the railway portfolio. The most talked-about name for her successor has been that of Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Trivedi is also in the running,but Roy is said to be Didi’s first choice.

Shakeel Ahmed,the central Congress leader in charge of West Bengal,who travelled with Mukherjee to

Kolkata for the meeting with Mamata,said the issue of

participation is still wide open. He added,however,that “I myself had been in the Rabri Devi government in Bihar where we were in a minority” — a significant statement in the context of some talk that the Congress leadership is generally not inclined to join a government where it is the junior partner.

Bengal Congress president Manas Bhunia was somewhat more forthcoming. “If the TMC can be a partner of the Congress at the Centre,why can’t we be the TMC’s partner in Bengal,” he asked. “But that is a policy decision that only the high command can take.”

Mukherjee and Ahmed will meet all 42 Congress MLAs tomorrow to ascertain their views on participation in the government. Incidentally,Mukherjee’s son,Abhijit Mukherjee,will be one of the team of 42 MLAs.

It was learnt that the swearing-in would be on May 18. Mamata wanted the venue to be Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground,but Governor M K Narayanan is believed to have persuaded her to have the ceremony at the Raj Bhavan. The swearing-in was a government function,and she could always hold a rally at Brigade Parade afterward,the governor is learnt to have told Mamata.