To placate Trinamool, Ramesh to visit Jangalmahal

Walking an extra mile to placate Trinamool Congress, one of the key allies of Congress, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh will tour West Bengal's Maoist-hit Jangalmahal area on Saturday. Saubhadra Chatterji reports.

Walking an extra mile to placate Trinamool Congress, one of the key allies of Congress, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh will tour West Bengal's Maoist-hit Jangalmahal area on Saturday.

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The politically-significant gesture of Ramesh, who has already offered a development package for that area, comes just ahead of parliament's winter session, where the Congress would need the full support of its allies to pass key bills and quell the possible protests from the opposition. The winter session starts from November 22.

"I'm going to Jangalmahal because CM Banerjee has requested me to do so. This is also part of my efforts to visit all Maoist-hit districts in the country. After the visit, I will meet Banerjee to finalise the package for Jangalmahal," Ramesh told HT.

Ramesh has also decided to take along Mamata's key supporters like minister of state (shipping) Mukul Roy and minister of state (rural development) Shishir Adhikary and a state government minister.

"We will focus on rural roads and livelihood in the Jangalmahal package. Livelihood projects need to pick up momentum in Bengal," said Ramesh who is is acting as the key interlocutor between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress.

His private secretary has already visted Jangalmahal, an 8,000-sq-km area with more than 10 lakh population.