Kolkata, February 11: Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will once again be conspicuous by her absence at a crucial Cabinet meeting, which was scheduled to discuss the petroleum price hike, in New Delhi on Thursday. Mamata apparently feared that any decision to hike rates at the Cabinet would affect her “pro-poor” image.
While Mamata was scheduled to board a Wednesday evening flight from Kolkata to the Capital, she changed her plans at the last minute. Instead, she will be meeting state Congress leaders over the issue of Gorkhaland here, the first such meeting between the two parties on the issue.
Noting that “it was not the first time she (Mamata) had been absent at a Cabinet meeting”, Trinamool Congress leader and Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sisir Adhikary said: “She has some important work here… Why create a controversy over it?”
Having already expressed her opposition to a proposed hike in petroleum prices, Mamata hoped to drive home the message by skipping the Cabinet meeting.
“We do not want the UPA to hike the prices and put burden on the common man. We expect the Centre will hike the prices. We do not want to be a part of it,” said a senior Trinamool leader.
And, party sources said, this is just the start. Ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in the state next year, Mamata is likely to distance herself from any decision of the UPA that is expected to be unpopular.
After an expert panel led by Kirit Parikh recommended a hike in prices, Mamata had said the people of Bengal would be hit badly as the tax on petroleum is high in the state.
—-Agencies