Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 10: The leadership position of the Congress in the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc and the future of the alliance has been in question of late following a string of back-breaking electoral losses.
The Congress’ performance in the Lok Sabha elections had fuelled the ambitions of the INDIA bloc but the drubbing in assembly polls seems to have brought the alliance to a crossroads once again. The poor show has also given ammunition to other opposition parties in the alliance to snatch the “big brother” tag from the Congress.
In another sign that the Congress is getting cornered within the INDIA bloc, RJD founder and veteran politician Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee should lead the Opposition alliance and that the Congress’s objection to this “means nothing.”
“Congress’s objection means nothing. We will support Mamata… Mamata Banerjee should be given the leadership (of the INDIA Bloc),” the veteran leader said when asked about Ms Banerjee’s remarks on leading the INDIA bloc.
Earlier this month, in a veiled swipe at the Congress, the West Bengal Chief Minister had said “everyone needs to be taken along” as the Opposition bloc moves against the BJP-ruled central government. Asked why she was not taking charge, she said, “If given the opportunity, I would ensure its smooth functioning. I don’t want to go outside Bengal, but I can run it from here.”
Recently, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, when asked about Banerjee’s ambitions, had said: “Yes, certainly. She is a prominent leader of this nation… she has that capability. The elected leaders she sent to Parliament are responsible, dutiful, and well-aware people. Therefore, she has the right to say so.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut also concurred. “We know this opinion of Mamata ji. We also want her to be a major partner of the INDIA alliance. Whether it is Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal or Shiv Sena, we are all together. We will soon go to talk to Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata…Mamata didi is very close to us. She is a good leader,” Raut said.
His party colleague Priyanka Chaturvedi had said the Trinamool chief had repeatedly fended off the BJP offensive in Bengal. “Because she has shown a successful model in West Bengal where she has kept the BJP away from power and implemented good welfare schemes…her election experience, and fighting spirit, accordingly she has shared her interest. Whenever the INDIA bloc meeting takes place, our senior leaders will together take a decision,” she had said.
The remarks over INDIA bloc’s leadership play out against the backdrop of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. Differences have cropped up on the strategy the Opposition must follow to corner the Narendra Modi government in the House. While the Congress, led by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, demanded a discussion on the Adani indictment issue, leading to frequent adjournments, the Trinamool insisted that it wants the House to function so that it can raise key issues such as price rise, unemployment and the Manipur unrest. MPs of the Trinamool and Samajwadi Party — the biggest opposition forces after the Congress — were conspicuously missing from an Opposition protest over the Adani issue.
Mr Gandhi has been pushing hard on the Adani issue after a US Department of Justice indictment against the directors of Adani Green. The Adani Group has maintained that Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vineet Jaain are clear of bribery charges. Gautam Adani has said this is not a challenge the group has faced for the first time, adding, “every attack makes us stronger.”
The Congress had consolidated its position as the main Opposition party after scoring 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, doubling its 2019 tally. But the setbacks in the Haryana and Maharashtra polls have given way to rumblings within the Opposition camp.
The INDIA bloc was formed last year when the Opposition parties decided to work out their ideological differences and fight the formidable BJP together. The grand alliance strategy worked well in the Lok Sabha election and the ruling BJP was restricted to below the majority mark. The alliance, however, has proved to be tricky in regions where two INDIA partners are electoral rivals. This has drawn attacks from the BJP, which has termed the bloc “opportunistic.”
Lalu’s approval for the West Bengal chief minister came two days after the Trinamool Congress raised the issue, with party MP Kirti Azad saying Banerjee is the ‘most suitable’ for the job as she is the only leader who has repeatedly defeated the BJP in her state.
The sentiment was echoed by his colleague Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday who said “everyone realises Mamata Banerjee is the strongest and most popular leader in Opposition.”
Taking a dig at the Congress, he added: “One must not have ego. It does not mean that if Mamata Banerjee becomes leader of INDIA bloc, she will be a contestant for the prime minister’s post. The problem with the Congress is that they are always afraid of leaders of other opposition parties. Congress must be realising its wrong decision of throwing Mamata Banerjee out in 1997.”
Kalyan Banerjee, while throwing his weight behind the Bengal chief minister, said “no one in the INDIA bloc can compare with her. She is the best.” “Mamata Banerjee alone has destroyed CPI(M). She knows how to rise to the occasion. But the Congress, on various occasions, has failed to give leadership to the Opposition.”
The Grand Old Party, meanwhile, is refraining from aggressively attacking allies like Banerjee and Yadav over the question of who will lead the INDIA bloc. Sources said there were no immediate elections yet as Congress is not a player in Delhi and in Bihar, there is already an alliance in place. The sources added that Congress leaders don’t wish to give BJP a handle.
Senior Congress leader Manickam Tagore on Tuesday entirely thrashed the TMC’s proposal of appointing West Bengal Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee as the leader of the opposition bloc. On being asked about the TMC’s suggestion, Tagore said, “That’s a good joke.”
The BJP took pot shots at the INDIA bloc saying the alliance was nothing more than a band of enemies that had come together to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With the barb mainly aimed at the Congress, it said all the opposition allies were unhappy with the Grand Old Party.
The BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya took a jibe at opposition’s unity and said, “Congress MP Manickam Tagore, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, calls TMC’s suggestion that Mamata Banerjee be the I.N.D.I Alliance convener a ‘joke’. The TMC is looking for a job for Mamata Banerjee post 2026 but the Congress is in no mood to oblige. So much for opposition unity.”
Earlier, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took a jibe at Congress saying that after the AAP, TMC and Shiv Sena (UBT), it was now the Samajwadi Party that was gunning for the Congress. He had put out a video clip from a podcast interview in which Akhilesh Yadav has claimed how the Congress sent journalists after him in Madhya Pradesh to ask him questions.