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Row over Mamata's presence at RSS function

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA SEPT. 19. The Trinamool Congress chief and Union Minister without portfolio, Mamata Banerjee, appears to have bought herself more trouble by attending a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh event in New Delhi last Monday.

When Ms. Banerjee went to attend the function, where she was likened by the RSS leaders to Goddess Durga because of her campaign against West Bengal's ruling Leftists, she could have hardly imagined that she would end up annoying the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, a host of BJP leaders and triggering hostile reactions across the political spectrum.

Mr. Advani is reported to have interpreted Ms. Banerjee's act as a "blatant attempt" to pressure him and other senior leaders in the BJP through the RSS to give her a ministerial berth of her choice. Ms. Banerjee's aides suspect that the initial offer of Coal Ministry was Mr. Advani's idea, designed to embarrass Ms. Banerjee. Coal is labour-driven and a creaking State-controlled segment where a Minister will have to be really courageous to take on the formidable trade unions and push through the privatisation.

Several senior leaders of her party fear an adverse impact on the Trinamool voter. A senior Trinamool leader, Sultan Ahmed, has criticised Ms. Banerjee's participation in the RSS function. He is among the party leaders who feel that the Trinamool is in danger of losing a substantial number of minority Muslim votes if Ms. Banerjee does not initiate an exercise to regain her position among the minorities.

PTI reports:

The Trinamool's all-India general secretary, Mukul Roy, said ``Mamata has spoken to Ahmed and there is no difference within the party on the issue any longer''.

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