West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that her party’s ministers have sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to tender their resignations. An appointment in this regard has also been sought with President Pranab Mukherjee, she said, so that the ministers may hand over a letter of their exit from the Union Government. The TMC has six ministers, including one of Cabinet rank, in the UPA Government. It has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha and nine in the Rajya Sabha.
“We have taken a collective decision. Our ministers have already left for Delhi and will submit their resignation. We have also sought an appointment with the President tomorrow, if he gives time,” she told reporters at Writers’ Buildings this evening.On Tuesday night, Banerjee had announced her party’s “unanimous decision” to withdraw support (to UPA) and pull out its ministers in protest against the hike in diesel prices, the reduction in the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders and allowing FDI in multi-brand retail.
“The decision has already been taken. Commitment is commitment,” she maintained.
Anti-people decisions
Remaining firm on her opposition to Foreign Direct Investment in retail, Banerjee said, “We will not accept (FDI in) retail either today or even in the future. We will resist its entry.”
According to Banerjee, decisions to allow FDI in retail and the hike in diesel prices are “unrealistic” and “anti-people”.
“You can not sell out your country in the name of FDI. People will silence the voices of those who are favouring entry of FDI in retail. We honour the people’s opinion. Let people decide. Let the country decide,” she said.
She further warned that “anti-people” decisions will not be tolerated and the public would retaliate against such moves.
Maintaining her attack on the Congress, Banerjee said that spending nearly Rs 100 crore on advertisements regarding the need for reform measures and a diesel price hike was “wasteful”. According to her, such advertisements would fail to win public opinion in favour of the Government. “You might look good in an advertisement. But people have the final say in a democracy. Respecting their opinion makes one a better leader,” she said.
Policy Deviation
Banerjee has also blamed the Congress for deviating from its stand. Quoting Pranab Mukherjee’s statement when he was Finance Minister, the Banerjee said that on December 7, 2011, the then Finance Minister had mentioned in the Lok Sabha that a decision on FDI in multi-brand retail would be implemented only after a political consensus had been reached. “Now tell us who has deviated from this statement of the Central Government?” Banerjee posted on her Facebook wall.
‘Centre tapped my phone’
Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at the Union Home Ministry and alleged that her phone has been tapped in the past. “I was in the Central Government then. I know anybody’s phone can be tapped with the help of the Home Ministry,” she told reporters at Writers’ Buildings. She claimed that her phone had been tapped at the height of the Nandigram agitations, nearly five years ago.