Looking for allies, Congress and BJP begin wooing Didi

POLL PLOTS Guj CM praises Mamata in Bengal; plan panel hikes allocation to WB

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: With equations changing thick and fast within their coalitions, both the Congress and the BJP are trying to outdo each other in getting Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on their side.

While senior functionaries of the Congress-led government at the Centre were offering generous funds to the West Bengal chief minister, the BJP’s Narendra Modi was praising her effusively at a function in Kolkata, saying the state was “progressing in the right direction”.

As Gujarat chief minister Modi supported Banerjee’s longstanding demand for more central funds, which not- so- long ago had pitted her against the Centre, the planning commission announced an increase of 17% in the state’s annual allocation to Rs30,314 crore.

The increase is substantial considering finance minister P Chidambaram gave the panel just 6% more funds for states and central schemes for fiscal 2014 as against the last financial year.

On Tuesday, the panel instead of pointing out gaps in the state government’s policies was all praise for the Banerjee government. “In its three years, West Bengal has done well,” planning commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, while offering help to remove environmental and approval roadblocks in the way of mega projects in the state.

Modi, who many see as the BJP’s PM candidate, too, was “understanding”. Accusing the Centre of discriminating against the non- UPA states, the BJP leader said Bengal needed more funds.

CONTINUED ON P10 RELATED REPORTS, P10 MR FIXIT VS MR DREAMER, P12