The PM in Parliament had referred yesterday to the challenges that a coalition government presents when making policy and other decisions. "The NCP is a disciplined party, we respect coalition dharma," said Mr Pawar, who is Agriculture Minister. Dr Manmohan Singh had said in the Lok Sabha, "The difficult decisions that we have to take are made more difficult by the fact that we are a coalition Government and we have to evolve policy keeping in mind the need to maintain a consensus."
Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee was reportedly upset with the Prime Minister for praising her party's Dinesh Trivedi, whose dismissal as Railways Minister she demanded. Mr Trivedi incensed his party chief by proposing hikes in passenger fares in the budget he presented last week. He resigned on Sunday after considerable political drama. The DMK, another senior member of the ruling coalition, had also threatened to withdraw its ministers from the cabinet if the government did not commit to voting against Sri Lanka for its alleged war crimes at a session of the United National Human Rights Council this week. The PM yesterday told Parliament that India is inclined to vote" in favour of that resolution". That remark diffused the crisis with the DMK.
Ms Banerjee told NDTV last night that though she wants to stay with the UPA, she wants more respect or "izzat." In the recent past, her party, the Trinamool Congress and the DMK have blamed the Congress for not consulting them before taking important decisions. As course-correction, the Congress has begun daily meetings with allies during this session of Parliament to ensure better coordination.
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