Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, had recently threatened to bring a no-confidence motion against the United Progressive Alliance government in New Delhi. All India Congress Committee general secretary and person in-charge of West Bengal, Shakeel Ahmed, has said that the government has the numbers, and is ready to prove its majority in the Parliament.
“We have the support of 307 MPs in the Parliament. There are 257 MPs who are part of the government, while 50 MPs, including the Samajawdi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, are extending outside support to the UPA government,” Mr. Ahmed told The Hindu on the telephone from the State’s Murshidabad district.
Reacting to Ms. Banerjee’s comments, he said that the Trinamool Congress is “now a part in the Opposition”, and like any party outside the government, it can seek a ‘no confidence’ motion.
He, however, said that since the main Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has categorically said that it won’t bring a no-confidence motion, there is no threat before the government.
When asked of the presence of the convenor of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Sharad Yadav, at Ms. Banerjee’s protest rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, he said that it was expected that the Trinamool Congress and the NDA would work in tandem with one another.
“There is nothing unusual regarding their closeness,” he said.
Mr. Ahmed also emphasised on a good representation of Congress MPs from the State in the next reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers.
“As the person in-charge of West Bengal, I want a good representation from the State in the Union Council of Ministers. But the final decision will be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi,” he said.
After the elevation of former Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, as the President, and the withdrawal of support of Trinamool Congress from the UPA government, there is no representation from the State in the Union Council of Ministers.
On September 21, State Congress general secretary, Omprakash Mishra, had written to the party president, seeking adequate and proportional representation from the State in the Union Council of Ministers.
