When West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi clash over the issue of central funds, the Congress sees a larger political design lurking behind the Trinamool intent to get into a blame game.
“You can easily discern a pattern. Whether it is the Lokpal bill or the issue of FDI in retail, the TMC has gone out of its way to embarrass the Congress, and we are seeing the same thing now,” said Singhvi commenting on his on-going spat with Mitra.
However, political observers in Kolkata feel the Congress, which thinks its electoral fate may change for good with Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, would now keep the pressure on its rebel ally Trinamool. The issue started with Mitra accusing the Centre of not even giving the state a “paisa”. When Singhvi responded with facts and figures about the funds allocated to West Bengal, Mitra rubbished the claims and went personal. “He is a good lawyer but not an economist,” added Mitra.
Singhvi then clarified that Rs23,000 crore had been released to the state after the TMC had come to power. However, Mitra again said on Thursday that he “stands by what he had said earlier”. He said the state got a little more than Rs12,000 crore but “that is according to our share under the Constitution and nothing more”.
He then appealed to the Centre to announce moratorium on interest that the state pays to the RBI for huge debt the new government inherited from the Left Front government.
As spat continues, Congress feels its relationship with the TMC will continue to be rocky as long as it depends on the support of its 19 MPs. “But if the situation changes, then anything can happen, after all there is a limit to everyone’s patience,” said a senior party functionary.
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