Trinamool Congress seeks to play down threat of pullout

Ahead of the party's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the fuel price hike, Trinamool Congress today sought to down play the threat of pullout, saying the situation should not be seen as us versus them.

"I dont think there is a situation us versus them. That is not the way democracy runs," party leader and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi told reporters here.

He said party chief Mamata Banerjee "was very very candid that this (the fuel hike) is just a concern which needs to be taken to the honourable Prime Minister's doorsteps and I have no doubt the honourable Prime Minister himself also would be equally concerned."

Trivedi said the entire idea is to talk and find a solution so that the common man is not burdened.

"I am absolutely certain given the Prime Minister's stature, given his commitment to the country at large... I don't think so we should unduly get excited about certain things because we are in a mature democracy," he said.

Party MPs led by senior leader Partho Chatterjee will meet the Prime Minister later today after their threat of pull-out over the fuel price hike.

Trinamool Congress, with 18 members in the Lok Sabha, is the largest ally of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.

"After meeting the Prime Minister, they will return to Kolkata on November 9 and report to Mamata who will take the final call," a senior party leader had said yesterday.