Amid JPC demand, Mamata to meet Sonia

Amid speculations of her party’s stand over a JPC on the 2G spectrum scam, Trinamool Congress chief and railway minister Mamata Banerjee will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday. Banerjee arrived in New Delhi this evening, although she was scheduled to come on Wednesday.

The meeting has been formally sought to appraise the Congress president about the violence in West Bengal — an issue the Trinamool routinely raises in Delhi. The meeting, however, gained significance with the Trinamool Congress indicating that the government should accept the opposition demand for a JPC.

Today, the Congress party held its core committee meeting to discuss the parliament strategy, the Andhra Pradesh situation and the proposed Food Security Bill, among others.

When Trinamool chief whip in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay met Gandhi this morning to seek an appointment on Wednesday, she asked him what wanted to discuss with her. Bandopadhyay said he would talk about “other issues and not the JPC”. Gandhi promptly asked if there was any issue bigger than the JPC at this moment.

Bandopadhyay told Gandhi that the Trinamool Congress parliamentary group – the team of 19 MPs – wanted to talk to her about the current situation in West Bengal. “We wanted to inform her how the state is sponsoring terrorism. How the chief minister himself is inciting violence and police is firing at innocent people,” Bandopadhyay told Business Standard.

While the two leaders were talking, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived and the conversation that followed was erlated to the current political situation in Delhi. Bandopadhyay told Gandhi in front of Mukherjee, “Mamata Banerjee has directed us to extend support to the government. As far as the JPC is concerned, the government’s stand is our stand.”

Ruling out any pressure from the Trinamool Congress on the government over the JPC, Bandopadhyay told Business Standard: “The UPA is firm and totally united.”

Last evening, Mukherjee had called a meeting of the allies at his office, but called it off 10 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start after a chat with Sonia Gandhi.

Top Congress managers ruled out the formation of a JPC under opposition pressure. The Winter Session will continue till 13 December.