Not more than 6 months left for UPA-II: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, Oct 15: Mamata Banerjee has given the Congress-led UPA government "between two and six months" and wants the Trinamool Congress to become the nucleus of an anti-Congress front which, she thinks, will decimate the Grand Old Party in the next general elections.The Bengal chief minister, in an interview with Ei Samay, the new Bengali daily from The Times of India stable, made it clear that nothing — not even the "needless tension" over the fate of the railway projects in the state — would force her off the route of strident anti-Congressism that she has charted out for herself. Instead, she would strive to raise the pitch higher to install a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the Centre, Banerjee said in her first exclusive conversation with a newspaper in recent times."Take it from me: if I understand even a little of politics, the Manmohan Singh government is not going to last more than six months," she said during the chat, when she played superwoman, responsible politician, a victim of circumstances but, most importantly, a David from one state taking on the might of a Goliath (the Centre).Banerjee's answers, whenever the conversation turned to the Congress, took on that pitch of stridency and revealed how far she had travelled from the party with which she shared resources to demolish the apparently-invincible Left Front in Bengal. One invective that she reserved for the Congress was "pocha shamuk". Literal translation would mean "rotten snails"; in the context, it would imply something that is decaying and yet dangerous. "Does anyone keep pocha shamuk? You'd only hurt yourself," she said.A few seconds before that, Banerjee likened the state of the Congress-led government to that of a brain-dead patient. "A brain-dead patient can be kept on ventilator. Everyone knows the patient has died but no one wants to pull the plug despite knowing that it has to be done some time," she said, explaining why she had taken the lead in "belling the cat". "Taking the lead is part of Bengal's political tradition," Banerjee said.And the recent policy changes (widely hailed by business and industry as much-needed reforms) had forced her hand, she said. "What option did we have? How can I be a part of policy changes that spell doom for retailers and expose even pension and insurance to the whims of the market?" she said.The Bengal CM also allayed the widespread fears about the fate of the ongoing railway projects in Bengal because of her anti-Centre posturing. "The Planning Commission has already approved the plans for 16 railway factories that I proposed as the railway minister and funds have already been allocated. Besides, where is the question of the Congress scuttling all these projects when it's not going to be in power for too long?" she said, adding for effect, "Don't think I am a fool. I have been railway minister twice."Another issue where Banerjee ruled out any compromise was the vexed land-for-industry debate. "I will not change the policy just to benefit a few people. I have come to a decision after carefully considering who this would benefit, Bengal's poor or some vested interests. I will not deviate from the Trinamool pre-poll manifesto," she said, striving to hold on to her friends-of-the-poor image and making it abundantly clear that being pro-poor, for her, was much more important than being pro-industry.Banerjee also indicated how, along with her anti-Centre and anti-Congress politics, the politician in her would continue to encash her inheritance of loss from the CPM. This inheritance, according to her, included the total absence of democracy in Bengal for 34 years, the marginalization of the minorities and the slide in sectors like industry and agriculture. "Shouldn't you look at the problems I inherited when you are criticizing me? It takes time for a crematorium to be turned into a garden," Banerjee said.This inheritance, combined with the Centre's negative attitude to Bengal, would take its toll on the state's progress. "I am willing to pay for the sins of my predecessors. But can't we expect a little bit of flexibility," she asked.All these negatives would have scared off anyone else or would have led to a heart attack, Banerjee said. "It's only because I am Mamata Bandyopadhyay that neither has happened till date," she said with a smile, something that one rarely catches her doing these days.