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Vajpayee may decide to call Banerjee's bluff

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The government's decision on Wednesday to defer the proposed rollback in prices of petroleum products is not without reason, say highly placed sources.

The sources told rediff.com that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was responsible for the decision to defer the rollback in prices of petroleum products, especially those of liquefied petroleum gas, diesel and kerosene.

The government was forced to agree to the rollback when Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee threatened to pull out of the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

Banerjee gave the government, of which she herself is a member, 72 hours to roll back the increase, failing which her party would break off from the NDA.

She also submitted her resignation as railway minister and got party colleague Ajit Panja, minister of state for external affairs, to do likewise to exert pressure on the prime minister.

But the sources said, "While the government's continuance is necessary, Prime Minister Vajpayee is a determined man. Once he takes a decision, it stays and we don't think anyone can hold a gun to his head."

They contended that the decision was aimed at testing whether the "Trinamul's bark is worse than its bite" and whether Banerjee would really jettison the NDA.

In any case, they pointed out, even if the Trinamul quit the coalition, the government would not be threatened because the NDA would still be left with 300 seats in a House of 542.

Asked why the government had decided to defer the downward revision after having first agreed to it, the sources said, "There are very real chances of international oil prices shooting up again within a month." In that case, the government would cut a sorry figure since it would have to raise prices again."

The issue is likely to be taken up at Friday's crucial Union Cabinet meeting.

For Banerjee, the sudden decision to defer the rollback has come as a rude shock. After the prime minister's officer on special duty Sudheendra Kulkarni had clinched the deal with her in Calcutta to bring down the prices of some petroleum products, she had happily proclaimed that the people of West Bengal could celebrate a "happy Durga puja". The new decision comes as an embarrassment for her.

Significantly, Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik denied in Madras on Thursday that Vajpayee had promised any rollback.

When Vajpayee spoke to Banerjee on telephone from Delhi and told her that the rollback was being deferred till October 6, she did not comment but only wished him a speedy recovery from his knee surgery, which is slated for next week.

But Trinamul chief whip in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay said, "We are appalled. Our party is an important constituent of the NDA. How can the prime minister postpone something which he has already promised?" He added that Banerjee was furious. "Our party's strategy will soon be known to all," he said.

Now it remains to be seen whether the prime minister indeed calls Banerjee's bluff.

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