Mamata Banerjee may be fighting the CPI(M) and the Left Front tooth and nail in West Bengal, but her position on disinvestment and fuel price hike mirrors that of her political rivals.

For the last two days Banerjee has been in Delhi, she has had at least three one-on-one meetings with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, ostensibly to discuss the alliance between the Congress and the Trinamool in the next round of by-elections in West Bengal, but more importantly to persuade Banerjee to recant her opposition to a hike in fuel prices.

A decision on fuel hike was deferred in the last eGoM on the matter this week, more because Banerjee and several other ministers were not present. The next meeting has been tentatively scheduled for June 17, a date on which finance minister Mukherjee, who heads the group, hopes to have some good news for oil marketing companies.

?As of now, Banerjee appears to adamant on her opposition to a hike in fuel prices, but the finance minister is trying to convince her that the OMCs will be crippled if the price of fuel is not hiked soon,? said a source.

Curiously, the disinvestment proposal for Coal India and Hindustan Chemicals which had been listed as one of the seven items on the agenda of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) were not taken up on Thursday. Top government sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told ministers concerned BK Handique and Sriparakash Jaiswal that the two items would be taken up later. ?Banerjee had opposed the disinvestment of Coal India and the Prime Minister did not want the matter to be totally shelved,? said a source.

?It seems that there is a strange modality which has been worked out while considering issues on which Mamata Banerjee?s views are trenchantly opposed to the government. Those matters are only taken up during meetings when Banerjee is not present. The matter of fuel price hike, however, is so sensitive that this cannot be done,? said a source.

Significantly, Banerjee was not present when the last fuel price hike was announced and disinvestment of the SAIL was given the nod by the Cabinet.