Congress may revise cap on LPG cylinders

New Delhi - The Congress said on Monday that negotiations were under way with the Trinamool and expressed hope that allies would retain a working relationship, striking an optimistic note on the eve of Mamata Banerjee's deadline for rollback of FDI in multibrand retail.

The talk of negotiations suggested that the Centre could make concessions to woo the restive ally who has threatened "strong action" against the decisions to allow FDI in retail and diesel price hike. The optimism, however, flew in the face of Banerjee's toughening of stance. Her finance minister Amit Mitra refused to come to Delhi to discuss a financial package for West Bengal with finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday.

A section of Congress feels that raising the annual limit of the number of subsidised gas cylinders from six is a good idea to win over people hit by the harsh economic situation.

While the party has adopted a tough line on economic reforms with nobody striking a dissenting note, a section of the party feels that softening the blow to the common man would be helpful in view of the negative publicity by opposition's protests.

Denying any threat to UPA from Banerjee's ultimatum, AICC spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said, "Negotiations are on... we do believe that we will be able to have a working relationship. We remain optimistic."

At the same time, Chowdhury conveyed that Congress was ready with alternatives if things did not work out with the Bengal ally. "We are hoping that we do not need to look at that. But yes, the managers of the party will be working overtime on all options — Plan A, Plan B and onwards. The government is stable," she said.

The Congress believes that Banerjee will not destabilize the Centre and some give-andtake was possible. However, it is still not clear how the West Bengal CM wriggles out of the tight spot she has painted herself into by seeking complete rollback of FDI in retail.

With the Centre unwilling to roll back the reforms, the Trinamool leader may pull out ministers from the UPA and extend outside support. However , she is under pressure from colleagues who argue it would be politically unwise to lose central ministries after failing to stop the retail FDI decision.

If the present test to ties survives, the coming Cabinet reshuffle could open another fault line. Sources said the Congress leadership could appoint a Muslim and a Hindu from Bengal as junior ministers. The move will not go down well with the Trinamool chief who is hostile to Congress efforts to strengthen its base in the state.