Mixed reaction in NDA over PM's decision on rollback

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 4. The decision of the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, agreeing for a partial rollback of petroleum product prices under pressure from the Trinamool Congress Chief, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, has received a mixed response from some allies of the National Democratic Alliance.

Although the decision is expected to be announced after a meeting of the Union Cabinet on October 6, NDA allies like the Samata Party felt the rollback move would have an impact on coalition politics in the country while the Janata Dal (United) preferred a discreet approach than one adopted by the Trinamool Congress.

While the BJP on its part seemed to have reconciled to Ms. Banerjee's demand, with the party president, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, stating that such pressures were common in coalition politics, the Telugu Desam was of the view that the BJP should have consulted all allies before taking the decision. The Samata Party said the decision of the BJP-led Government agreeing for a rollback should be seen in the larger context of its impact on coalition politics.

The party president, Ms. Jaya Jaitly, said once the NDA had taken a decision, then all constituents should stick to its ``collective wisdom.''

She said the threat of Ms Banerjee, to withdraw from the NDA if the price hike was not withdrawn, ``was best avoided.''

At a time when the polity of the country was ``maturing phase by phase'' to coalition politics, such problems could be faced by whosoever was leading it.

Conceding to such demand could always lead to more demands from other parties or individuals which eventually would do more harm to the effectiveness of a coalition Government, Ms. Jaitly said. The Janata Dal(U) general secretary, Mr. Mohan Prakash, said the NDA constituents would have to take responsibility and share the fallout of both `hard or soft' decisions taken by the Government. ``Once a consensus has been arrived at, we have to go together as all of us are partners to a decision,'' he said.

While emphasising that the party was not commenting on the threat from Ms Banerjee, Mr. Prakash said the party believed that such issues should be sorted out in the NDA meeting and not outside.

The Telugu Desam, another important ally of the NDA, also refrained from commenting on the Trinamool Congress threat while retierating the party was opposed to the hike. The leader of the TDP parliamentary party, Mr. K. Yerrannaidu, said the situation could have been avoided if the BJP had consulted all parties before effecting the hike.

On a limited scale these parties may not agree to the manner in which a decision on partial rollback was arrived at, yet at the same time they could not afford to be seen disagreeing from the move that could gain popular support.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : PA's campaign lacklustre without Chandrika
Next     : Mamata to announce her plans after Oct. 6