Trinamul is back in NDA: Mamata

contai: after rocking the nda boat five months ago on the tehelka issue, trinamul congress chief mamata banerjee declared in no uncertain terms at a public meeting on thursday that she was "already with the nda" and was always ready to "strengthen the hands of prime minister atal behari vajpayee." but the man who had suffered most because of mamata banerjee's walking out of the nda - former defence minister george fernandes - said: "i hope the prime minister will soon take the final decision on tmc's return to the nda." fernandes cherished every moment of the tmc supremo's sweet fury."the past is past. let us look forward to the future," fernandes declared. but he betrayed no uncertainty about his own mind. "i have always said that i want the tmc to return to the nda," fernandes said. the tmc chief was conscious that her shuffling in and out of the nda would put a question mark on her probity. "i am not power hungry. i do not hanker for chair. if i return to the nda, i want to do it with honour," she said and went on to add "i know how to go alone". the stage for the announcement was set meticulously. the arabindo stadium turned into a sea of humanity as people came in buses, trucks and cars from almost all corners of south bengal. the large gathering lapped up every word of fernandes and banerjee, sending a clear signal that whatever might be the political interpretations of the tmc's return to the nda, it was to the liking of the people. mamata today also snapped her party's ties with the congress. "the congress disrupted our poll prospects by putting up dissidents in almost every seat. after we lost the polls, the dissidents were taken back to the congress," she rued. this, for her, was a clear instance of sabotage. "now the congress has openly joined hands with the cpm in parliament to oppose the vajpayee government," she said and declared: "enemy's enemy is my friend". 'fight the cpm' was her mantra. with the nda convener sitting by her side, mamata banerjee repeatedly switched to hindi whenever she wanted her message to be passed on to those who matter in the nda. "i know georgeji wants us back in the nda. on our part, we left the nda but never opposed it. we never opposed the prime minister. we are committed to strengthen his hands. we will respond whenever the prime minister will call us", she declared as the crowd cheered her on. the nda convener was equally responsive. "vietnam had lost 30 lakhs of its people fighting the us. now they have joined hands," fernandes reminded. he immediately went on to add that in spite of his insulting resignation as defence minister because of the tmc quitting the nda, he was still ready to embrace it as vietnam had embraced the us. "forget the past. this is my decision," fernandes said. the unpleasant noise created by rebel leader ajit panja was not mentioned either by mamata nor by fernandes. the issue was raised nevertheless. sadhan pande said that panja was a betrayer and should not be considered worthy of an invitation for joining the nda. four of her eight mps - sudip bandyopadhyay, nitish sengupta, ranjit panja and akbar ali khondekar - apart from mamata herself were paraded on the podium to prove that panja had failed to win the confidence of the majority within the tmc parliamentary party. tmc mla sougata roy was the only one to openly demand that the post of railway minister be returned to mamata.