Mamata relents, will back Vajpayee Govt

CALCUTTA, June 6: Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress today, in a predictable change of stance, lifted its "suspension" of support to the Vajpayee Government and also the Parliament boycott. The party’s seven MPs will attend the Lok Sabha session from Monday and support the Government when the Railway Budget is put to vote on Tuesday. The party had "suspended" its support to the government on May 28, accusing it of "failing to protect the lives and property of the people before and after the panchayat polls in West Bengal" and of giving the state a raw deal in the railway budget. The party MPs had so far stayed away from the Lok Sabha.

She had even charged the BJP with having struck a "deal" with the CPI(M), with a major corporate house playing the deal-maker. At a press conference here this evening, Mamata was evidently uncomfortable when asked if she would now revoke that allegation too. In another somersault, she claimed she had not raised the demand for imposition of President’s rule in thestate.

"It was the demand of the people who are being killed daily and tortured by the Marxists," she remarked.