Will relations between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress hit the reset button after Sonia Gandhi hugged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and exchanged pleasantries with her during a chance encounter in the Central Hall of Parliament House on Tuesday?
Probably not, but this brief conversation was the talking point in the Parliament House, triggering speculation that the warm personal relationship between Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee could bring their parties closer.
The two leaders met when Sonia Gandhi happened to pass by as the Trinamool leader, who is on a three-day trip to Delhi, was chatting with her party MPs and media persons. Banerjee got up to greet her with a namaste but the Congress president stepped forward and hugged her.
“How are you… still fighting?” Gandhi asked Banerjee with a smile. The West Bengal chief minister gestured with her hand in the air and said, “ I saw a photograph of yours… protesting.” The Congress president replied, “I have learnt from you.”
This banter immediately set tongues wagging. The talk about a possible improvement in the relations between the warring state units of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress was strengthened further by a 30-minute one-to-one meeting between Mamata Banerjee and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Trinamool Congress office in Parliament House.
Private talks
Although the West Bengal chief minister also met Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and Janata Dal (U) leaders Sharad Yadav and KC Tyagi, greater significance was attached to her meeting with Azad as the two leaders met in the Trinamool office ante room. Banerjee’s meeting with the others was conducted in the presence of her party MPs and journalists.
The Congress and the Trinamool are currently at war in West Bengal. In fact, the Congress called a bandh on Saturday in the West Midnapore district to protest against the alleged lynching of a student in a local college, an incident that it believes is an indication of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The tension between the two parties is bound to get worse since assembly elections are due in West Bengal next year. But though the parties are battling it out at present, the Congress would only be too pleased to have an electoral alliance with the Trinamool Congress as it is badly handicapped by its shrinking political base and the lack of credible state leaders.
The two parties had contested the last assembly elections in 2011 together and also had a tie-up in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee was a member of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government but she walked out in 2012 to protest against the decision to introduce foreign investments in retail trade.
No details forthcoming
Banerjee refused to share any details about her meeting with Azad and brushed aside questions about the possibility of an alliance with the Congress. “ We are strong enough to fight on our own,” she said. “ In any case, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties are working together in West Bengal.”
The West Bengal Chief Minister also parried queries about her growing proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their meeting in Kolkata in May. "There is a difference between a relationship between governments and political parties,” she said. Banerjee is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, when she will brief him about the flood situation in her home state and press the Centre for additional relief.
Still, in an effort to dispel the growing public perception that she was cosying up to the Modi government, Mamata Banerjee was quick to criticise the Centre’s decision to disband the Planning Commission and slash budgets for social sector schemes. “ The states have been hit badly by these cuts," she said. "Important Central schemes...are suffering."
She was also dismissive about Modi’s schemes like Swachch Bharat and “Beti bachao, beti padao” to save the girl child. “These are very good slogans… but the Centre has allocated only Rs. 100 crore for the girl child programme and of this, Rs. 50 crore has been spent on its publicity," she said. "So what will be the share of the states?” In any case, the Trinamool chief said, West Bengal already has a highly successful and well-funded Kanyashree programme for girls and women.
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Probably not, but this brief conversation was the talking point in the Parliament House, triggering speculation that the warm personal relationship between Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee could bring their parties closer.
The two leaders met when Sonia Gandhi happened to pass by as the Trinamool leader, who is on a three-day trip to Delhi, was chatting with her party MPs and media persons. Banerjee got up to greet her with a namaste but the Congress president stepped forward and hugged her.
“How are you… still fighting?” Gandhi asked Banerjee with a smile. The West Bengal chief minister gestured with her hand in the air and said, “ I saw a photograph of yours… protesting.” The Congress president replied, “I have learnt from you.”
This banter immediately set tongues wagging. The talk about a possible improvement in the relations between the warring state units of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress was strengthened further by a 30-minute one-to-one meeting between Mamata Banerjee and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Trinamool Congress office in Parliament House.
Private talks
Although the West Bengal chief minister also met Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and Janata Dal (U) leaders Sharad Yadav and KC Tyagi, greater significance was attached to her meeting with Azad as the two leaders met in the Trinamool office ante room. Banerjee’s meeting with the others was conducted in the presence of her party MPs and journalists.
The Congress and the Trinamool are currently at war in West Bengal. In fact, the Congress called a bandh on Saturday in the West Midnapore district to protest against the alleged lynching of a student in a local college, an incident that it believes is an indication of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The tension between the two parties is bound to get worse since assembly elections are due in West Bengal next year. But though the parties are battling it out at present, the Congress would only be too pleased to have an electoral alliance with the Trinamool Congress as it is badly handicapped by its shrinking political base and the lack of credible state leaders.
The two parties had contested the last assembly elections in 2011 together and also had a tie-up in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee was a member of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government but she walked out in 2012 to protest against the decision to introduce foreign investments in retail trade.
No details forthcoming
Banerjee refused to share any details about her meeting with Azad and brushed aside questions about the possibility of an alliance with the Congress. “ We are strong enough to fight on our own,” she said. “ In any case, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties are working together in West Bengal.”
The West Bengal Chief Minister also parried queries about her growing proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their meeting in Kolkata in May. "There is a difference between a relationship between governments and political parties,” she said. Banerjee is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, when she will brief him about the flood situation in her home state and press the Centre for additional relief.
Still, in an effort to dispel the growing public perception that she was cosying up to the Modi government, Mamata Banerjee was quick to criticise the Centre’s decision to disband the Planning Commission and slash budgets for social sector schemes. “ The states have been hit badly by these cuts," she said. "Important Central schemes...are suffering."
She was also dismissive about Modi’s schemes like Swachch Bharat and “Beti bachao, beti padao” to save the girl child. “These are very good slogans… but the Centre has allocated only Rs. 100 crore for the girl child programme and of this, Rs. 50 crore has been spent on its publicity," she said. "So what will be the share of the states?” In any case, the Trinamool chief said, West Bengal already has a highly successful and well-funded Kanyashree programme for girls and women.