Will Mamatas mango diplomacy save her chair?
Didis plan to have a Legislative Council in Bengal likely to go adrift. The central government is already sitting over similar resolutions sent by several states. What may keep Mamata Banerjees hopes alive is efforts being made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prevent the possible third wave of corona, as there may be a by-election if the Covid wave subsides. If Mamata Banerjee has to continue to be the CM, she will have to get elected as an MLA before 3 November. Otherwise, she will have to put in her papers like Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat. Mamata Banerjees restlessness is understandable following the Uttarakhand development recently. But now, she will have to depend on the central government in order to save her chair. If it could be a possibility, then it will be a great deal of relief for Mamata Banerjee. Going by PM Modis serious efforts, there is a least possibility of a third wave of coronavirus in the country. If the pandemic is brought under control, it will be a good development for Mamata Banerjee. She may then be expecting that the Election Commission will hold the byelection in October. Mamata Banerjees resolution move aimed at setting up a Legislative Council in Bengal is set to meet the fate of other states. Similar resolutions of many states such as Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh have been in cold storage for a long time now. Even in the past, no central government has been serious about such resolutions. Significantly, two Congress-ruled states Rajasthan and Assam had sent resolutions to the then UPA government at the Centre, but nothing was done then. Even senior Congress leader Jaiprakash Agrawal had raised this matter seeking immediate attention of the government. Rajasthan has decided to send once again a resolution for constituting the Legislative Council. States like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have their legislative councils. CMs of UP, Maharashtra and Bihar are the Members of Legislative Council (MLC). Tirath Singh had to face the problem as there was no such Legislative Council in Uttarakhand. He resigned citing a constitutional crisis resulting from his being unable to be a member of the Legislative Assembly. Mamata Banerjee is facing the same crisis. Analysts say that Mamata Banerjee may move court seeking a by-election soon and the Centres nod to the resolution on the Legislative Council. The court has already taken a tough stand on violations of Covid appropriate protocols. Under Article 169, there is a provision of creating a Legislative Council in a state. The size of the State Legislative Council cannot be more than one third of the membership of the State Legislative Assembly. So, there may be a legislative council with 98 seats in Bengal whose Assemblys strength is 294. Similarly, if at all Rajasthan State Legislative Council comes into being, then it may have 67 seats. What has been seen is that the political parties use these councils to adjust their workers and functionaries. At the same time, creation of the State Legislative Council is an expensive affair. It puts a huge burden on the state exchequer, in view of which central governments have been keeping it on the backburner. The process is that the resolution seeking creation of a legislative council is passed in both the Houses of Parliament. After this, it is sent for Presidential consent. If the present government wants, it can pass the resolution easily in both the Houses as it has a majority there. But it is not possible given the existing economic condition. With this being the case, Mamata Banerjee will have to wait for the corona crisis to subside and what stand the EC takes thereafter. Her eyes must be on the Modi governments efforts aimed at curbing coronavirus. She may be expecting some positive result from her mango diplomacy.