Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday reached out to the Trinamool Congress (TC) seeking help to break the logjam in Parliament, with the recalcitrant ally bundling its support for the government on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail with the demand for a financial package for the state.

UPA managers, however, seemed confident of finding a formula over the weekend, believing West Bengal chief minister and TC chief Mamata Banerjee wouldn?t ?topple the government?. A couple of meetings of the Congress core committee are likely before Parliament reconvenes on Wednesday.

Banerjee confirmed she received a telephone call from Singh on Friday. Accepting her demand would mean the Union finance ministry will have to drop all its objection to the bailout for the state, including forgoing the right to ask for raising water and power rates. West Bengal has not presented a budget this year and has the lowest tax to GDP ratio among all major states.

?The Prime Minister telephoned me. I had a discussion with him on FDI in retail. I told him that we don?t want the government to be toppled on this issue… But at the same time, it is not possible for us to support FDI entry into retail. I am sorry,? Banerjee said at Dankuni in Hooghly district where she was on a tour with ministers to tweak the administration at the grass roots. ?I have asked the PM to meet his commitments on the financial package,? she added.

The Centre had promised a package of R21,614 crore to the state, of which R9,240 crore would come as grant-in-aid. But no funds have been released as yet and Bengal is going through a severe financial crisis.

A fortnight ago, the cash-strapped West Bengal government borrowed R1,000 crore from the market.

?The Prime Minister called the West Bengal chief minister in the afternoon to enquire about the health of her mother, who is ill and has been admitted to hospital,? a source in the Prime Minister’s Office said, adding: ?Of course, he also spoke of the current situation with regard to FDI in retail and Parliament.?

According to government managers, this is an opening move in what promises to be a long weekend of negotiations. Parliament is scheduled to reconvene on Wednesday, after a four-day break on account of the weekend and Tuesday being Moharram.

As of now, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee ? the government’s troubleshooter and the man who has dealt the most with Banerjee ? has said that he has no plans to leave Delhi in the next four days. ?But that might change,? said a senior Congressman. Of course, UPA managers will have to use all their persuasive skills to woo TC.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary proceedings were disrupted for the ninth successive day on Friday. In both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, TC and DMK members joined the Opposition BJP, Left, JD(U) and Samajwadi Party in protesting against the retail FDI move. Some slogan-shouting TC members, along with those from the Left, JD(U) and SP, even stormed the well in the Lok Sabha.

Back in West Bengal, Banerjee sought to turn the argument to suit the state’s farmers. ?The government is talking of benefiting the farmers through FDI in retail, but why hasn’t it come out with an increased minimum support price?? Banerjee fumed, adding that farmers in West Bengal were asking for higher paddy prices. She said the state couldn’t offer higher support prices of paddy unless the Centre increased it. Jute growers were also in acute crisis with market conditions not favouring them.

The government should have addressed this issues first before opening retail to FDI, she said, echoing the stand of Abhirup Sarkar, economist and member, state planning board. ?First, we need some protective measures for the rural population and small traders before we can open up the retail sector,? he said.

?The Prime Minister requested me to reconsider my party’s stand (on the proposal to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail). I requested him if the Centre could reconsider the decision. We have a definite stand on this issue. Our party’s stand on this is declared in our manifesto,? Banerjee said.

Railway minister and TC leader Dinesh Trivedi on

Friday hit back at Mukherjee for his remark that narrow politics was hampering implementation of a policy framework on FDI in retail, saying people who ?think with a narrow mind? consider it so.