Mamata avoids talk of early polls

A day after railway minister Dinesh Trivedi’s statement that his party, Trinamool Congress, would like an early poll — considering the Congress’ performance in the assembly elections — party boss Mamata Banerjee avoided the issue in the Trinamool parliamentary party meeting. HT reports.

A day after railway minister Dinesh Trivedi’s statement that his party, Trinamool Congress, would like an early poll — considering the Congress’ performance in the assembly elections — party boss Mamata Banerjee avoided the issue in the Trinamool parliamentary party meeting.

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The TMC meeting, chaired by Banerjee in Kolkata on Friday, did not consider any proposal to force a mid-term poll. Sources present in the meeting claimed Trivedi remained silent through out the meeting where Banerjee mainly focused on the Left Front’s misrule leading to the state's fiscal plight.

The meeting, instead, decided on stepping up the heat on the Centre during the budget session to extract more financial assistance to debt-ridden Bengal.

BJP sources also said the party did not see any immediate threat to the UPA though party leaders, including Sushma Swaraj, had not ruled out the possibility of early polls, following the outcome in UP, Punjab and Goa.

An unperturbed Congress, however, indirectly reminded the TMC that the states, too, needed to perform. “The UPA is strong, stable and will complete its full term. The state governments also have a role to play,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.