Mamata's threat to exit shows UPA mismanaging allies

It’s not just another fuel price hike, it’s another instance of midnight deceit. -  BJP

A cruel joke on the people of the country. -  Mayawati

Government has again displayed its shocking callousness at the plight of the people. -  CPM

These comments would be dismissed as routine reactions from the political opposition to the hike in petrol prices in normal times. But these are not normal times for UPA-2. Fighting troubles on all fronts and looking more miserable by the day and with a clear leadership vacuum, it has to contend with rebellion within now.

Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister, is not the easiest political ally to get along with. But despite having 18 MPs at her command and a track record of throwing tantrums, she has been unusually patient with the UPA’s leadership, siding with it during its most difficult times.

But she is cutting loose now. At least, she looks serious about it. On Friday, she issued a direct threat to the Congress-led UPA, stating that if  it didn’t withdraw the latest petrol price hike she would opt out of the government. She made it clear that she can run the government in West Bengal without the Congress but the UPA would not survive without her support.

She has reason to be worried. She feels her MPs would find it difficult to justify the hike—the 11th since June 2010—before the people. They were not even consulted before the decision was taken. “We don’t want to blackmail anyone, but we have tolerated a lot,” she said, adding she would take a call on withdrawing her MPs from the Union government after meeting Prime Minister Mammohan Singh.

This should be a warning signal for the embattled UPA. It can take on the opposition parties, even the civil society groups which have been at its throat for some time, but it can hardly afford to alienate its closest allies. It appears besides mismanaging things on the governance front it is mismanaging its allies too.

The DMK, despite being at the receiving end, both politically and legally, in the 2G scam has not broken off from the UPA. While it is evident now that senior Congress ministers were equally culpable in the spectrum scandal as former Telecom Minister A Raja, Kanimozhi and others, only the DMK leaders have faced the music. In a complicated political situation right now, especially after losing the elections in Tamil Nadu, the party has swallowed its pride. But with all political equations in her favour, Mamata has no pressing reason to go the same way.

It is apparent that the perceived arrogance of the Congress is at play. Many of its decisions, especially those on petro-product price hikes, have apparently been taken without taking the alliance partners into confidence. Also, it is often alleged that its senior ministers have little patience with junior ministers of the alliance partners and all the major decisions are taken by a clique of Congress leaders.

NCP leader Sharad Pawar has of late been openly critical about the style of functioning of the government and said that the leadership of the UPA has been inadequate. The National Conference is also not too happy with the Congress. The allies have reason to be worried about the petrol price hike. In times of high inflation and price rise, any further rise in the price of petrol would only aggravate the situation. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee admitted as much on Friday.

The perception that the government is anti-people only grows bigger after the move. The alliance partners who operate closer to the ground will have to face the people and explain the reasons for the hike. But the Congress seems to have presented them with a fait accompli by taking unpopular decisions unilaterally.

The price hike maybe justified and even necessary, but the government cannot afford to displease everyone, especially its allies. It is simply not good politics. Today’s development reflects the messy way the UPA runs its business.