Shrill thrills

It would be perfectly in order to come to at least two conclusions about Mamata Banerjee8217;s decision to quit the Vajpayee government. One, that it comes as no surprise. And two, that the interests of the quot;common peoplequot; were definitely not uppermost in her mind when she decided to withdraw from the Union Cabinet on the issue of the hike in the prices of petroleum products. Banerjee8217;s resignation is merely the next step in the Trinamool Congress8217;s unfolding election strategy for the coming assembly polls in West Bengal. With her campaign for pressuring the Centre to impose President8217;s rule in West Bengal, or to promulgate the Disturbed Areas Act at the very least, running out of shrillness, the time was ripe to deliver another stroke. And the price hike provided the perfect opportunity. It helps Banerjee accomplish two things at once. It helps her distance herself from an extremely unpopular decision; it also gives her a crucial lead over the Left in the forthcoming poll campaign without running the risk oftriggering a consolidation within the Left camp or a popular sympathy wave in its favour 8212; both were a distinct possibility if the Centre had actually caved in to her demand to destabilise the Jyoti Basu government in West Bengal.

Banerjee8217;s decision may even be about something more than populist posturing. It could be the prelude to a crucial realignment of political forces in West Bengal in time for next year8217;s elections. Banerjee8217;s decision to pull out from the Cabinet may indicate a rethink on her part on the utility of the BJP as an electoral ally; she may be weighing alternative options before the assembly polls in Bengal. It may pave the way for the formation, after all, of the Mahajot 8212; that grand anti-Left alliance under her leadership that would have come about if the Congress had not played spoiler. It may be recalled that even at that time, the West Bengal Congress was straining at the high command8217;s leash in its fervour to clamber aboard the Mamata bandwagon. If Banerjee severs her saffron connection now, the Congress high command would find it virtually impossible to restrain its eager cadres from scurrying into Banerjee8217;s fold. Given that the BJP is yet a minor player in West Bengal and electoral results in the recentpast indicate that the Congress still retains a base in rural Bengal, and keeping Trinamool8217;s considerable Muslim votebank in mind, wouldn8217;t a Mamata-led Mahajot, which excludes the BJP but includes the Congress, be a more potent weapon to slay the Left with than the present Trinamool-BJP combine?

As Banerjee grapples with this question, though, there is no reason for anyone outside of her own party to hold their breath. National policy cannot be, must not be, held to ransom to the political compulsions of one leader of one party, even in a coalition arrangement. The BJP8217;s national executive has done well to clarify that there is no question of a rollback in prices of petroleum goods. With the one-year milestone round the corner, it is a good time for the NDA government to tell self-serving allies just where they get off. Banerjee cannot be allowed to set the national agenda.