March 11: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee appears to have dropped plans to attend the swearing-in ceremonies of Parkash Singh Badal and Akhilesh Yadav, citing obligations in Bengal but possibly keeping in mind the risk of minority misgivings if she shared the dais with BJP leaders. The announcement of the decision to skip the events was preceded and followed by dramatic developments — including a belligerent statement attributed to a Congress spokesperson who later sought to clear the air — that have now become a hallmark of Trinamul's dealings with the UPA. (See chart) Both the tentative confirmation of Mamata's plan to go to Punjab on March 14 and Lucknow a day later and the eventual cancellation were made public over Twitter. If Trinamul MP Derek 'Brien had last night tweeted about the possibility of Mamata attending the swearing-in ceremonies, he updated her itinerary this afternoon. "As keen as Mamatadi is to attend both swearing-in-ceremonies of the new CMs, she might not make it because of commitments in Bengal. Just spoke to Mamatadi. Was keen to make the trip to Ch'garh/L'now but now she'll be in bengal on opening day of Assembly for Guv address," 'Brien tweeted. March 14, when BJP ally Badal is scheduled to be sworn in, is also the anniversary of the Nandigram firing. March 15, when Akhilesh will take his oath, will also see the governor addressing the Bengal Assembly to mark the beginning of the budget session. Mamata apparently has not yet finalised her programme on March 14 but party sources said she was not expected to be in Nandigram. (She is expected to be in Nagpur on March 13 for a private event.) However, they said convention required the chief minister to be present in the House when the governor delivers his address. The significance of both dates was known to all Trinamul leaders, including Mamata, much before last night. Yet, Trinamul leaders insisted that Mamata thought hard last night and decided that it would not be appropriate for her to be away from the state on these two days, especially on Thursday when the Assembly session begins. However, other sources said apprehension that it would be difficult to avoid sharing stage with BJP leaders such as Narendra Modi in Punjab played a decisive role in changing Mamata's mind. Some leaders had initially conveyed similar sentiments to Mamata but she had countered them by saying her presence in Lucknow to honour the minority-friendly Mulayam Singh Yadav would neutralise the effects of her visit to Chandigarh. However, some aides reminded her of a controversy surrounding Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar a few years ago about a photograph with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi at a Punjab rally. Swept up by the prevailing mood, Nitish had little option but to raise hands along with Modi, following which opponents in Bihar had tried to paint Nitish as "anti-secular". Nitish survived that controversy unscathed. But Mamata was told that the Left, desperate to regain its hold on Muslims, is unlikely to pass up an opportunity that can embarrass the chief minister before the minority community that now accounts for nearly 30 per cent of voters in Bengal. It was then suggested that Trinamul ministers should be deputed. An unexpected element was added on Sunday morning when PTI and some television channels quoted Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi as "virtually" telling Mamata not to cross the "Lakshman rekha" of "coalition dharma". Singhvi was quoted as having said: "Social interactions with strangers by those in partnerships is permissible but obviously, if things go beyond the normal boundaries of social courtesy, it would become immoral." Such a statement was audacious, coming from a battered and bruised Congress on the eve of the budget session of Parliament. Singhvi later tried to clear the air. "There are social courtesies. So, much political meaning should not be read into this. I don't understand why either her going or not going should be interpreted as heavy with so much political meaning. That's my response," Singhvi told The Telegraph. Asked about the earlier remarks attributed to him, Singhvi said: "I am being misquoted. I only said it would be immoral only if somebody crosses the Lakshman rekha. That is not issuing warning to Mamata." In between Singhvi's reported remarks and clarification, 'Brien had tweeted Mamata might not go to Chandigarh and Lucknow. Sources in Lucknow said the Samajwadi Party received a faxed message from Calcutta this evening on the change. AICC Bengal in-charge Shakeel Ahmed said: "We know that Mamataji is firmly with us. We have no doubts about that. She reassured me that there is no question of going out of the UPA. She has some concerns about state finances and public issues which does not mean she will destabilise the Centre." | 
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