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Mamata stands by Vajpayee

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

Trinamul Congress president Mamata Banerjee today welcomed the decision of All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalitha to withdraw support to the BJP-led government.

Banerjee said in Calcutta this evening, "I am very happy Jayalalitha has ultimately done it. But the government led by Vajpayeeji will survive."

Banerjee, who is in Calcutta to celebrate the Bengali new year tomorrow, will rush back to Delhi to mobilise support for the government.

She ruled out the possibility of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee resigning.

She described her meeting with Jayalalitha at the latter's Poes Garden residence in Madras recently as a "courtesy visit". For political observers in Calcutta, however, Banerjee's volte-face is nothing unusual.

What may be interesting to watch is which ministry she has been promised for her support to the BJP. A few months ago, Banerjee had vociferously demanded the railway portfolio, but Vajpayee had ruled out Samata Party politician Nitish Kumar's transfer.

Realising that there is no chance of her being wooed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi even if the Congress succeeds in forming the government, Banerjee also trained her guns on her erstwhile party.

"The Congress is indulging in horse-trading. Two senior Congress leaders were in Calcutta recently and they offered money to our MP, Akbar Ali Khondakar. But they will never succeed and the Vajpayee government will win the no-confidence motion in Parliament," she declared.

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