Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 1: The move for an opposition unity to present a joint front against the BJP seems to be falling apart with most of the major non-BJP parties attacking each other amidst a strong attempt by some to project the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as the possible face of a united opposition in the 2024 Parliamentary elections.
Banerjee, who is currently on a three-day visit to Mumbai to discuss the political moves with the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, targeted the Congress claiming that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which the Congress headed, had seized to exist. The Sena, which the third angle of the triangular power equation in Maharashtra, quickly reacted pointing out that no opposition front was possible keeping the Congress out.
The BJP called Banerjee’s moves as a “drama” even as the NCP chief and currently the senior most opposition leader Sharad Pawar reiterated the need for a strong alternative leadership. The NCP chief said Mamata’s intention was that the like-minded forces should come together at the national level and set up a collective leadership. “Our thinking is not for today, but for the election,” he said and added that there was no question of excluding any party.
But Banerjee angered by the Congress contesting against her party in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections indirectly helping the BJP, has so far refused to have any truck with the Congress and has refused to meet its leaders. Banerjee – seen as making a beeline for the political space occupied by the Congress – indicated on Wednesday that she was visualising a fresh opposition line-up for the next general elections. And this, she made clear, is being done because “nobody is fighting against the ongoing fascism”. “What is UPA? There is no UPA,” Banerjee said after her meeting with Pawar, a key interlocutor of the opposition ahead of the 2019 contest, in Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon. “There is an environment of fascism in the country today. A strong alternative needed to be given against it. Nobody can do it alone. Those who are strong should be taken together,” said Banerjee after meeting Pawar.
To a query on whether Pawar will lead the UPA, she said, “What UPA? There is no UPA now. We will decide it together.”
When asked whether there would be an alternative excluding the Congress, Banerjee said, “What Sharad Ji said is that there should be a strong alternative of those who fight. What do we do if one is not fighting? We feel that everyone should fight.”
“A firm alternative course should be made as nobody is fighting against ongoing fascism. Sharad ji is the senior-most leader and I came to discuss our political parties. I agree with whatever Sharad ji said. There is no UPA,” said Banerjee, who has been catapulted onto the national stage since her mega victory against the BJP in the April-May assembly elections in Bengal.
Many believe that Banerjee would now be pitched as the face of the opposition. The perception is reinforced by her efforts to make Trinamool Congress the next big national party after the Congress, with a steady stream of incoming leaders giving it a foothold in multiple states — Goa, Meghalaya, Bihar and Haryana.
While Banerjee did not name whom she blames for not “fighting against ongoing fascism”, her drift was clear. Most of the new entrants in her party have been from the Congress and the grand old party was not taking the development kindly. In Delhi last week, Banerjee gave an open invitation to any leader who wanted to join Trinamool in its battle against the BJP.
She also flared up when asked about a possible meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, questioning if it was “mandatory.” Later in the evening, Pawar tweeted photos of their meeting, commenting that they had “agreed upon the need to strengthen the collective efforts and commitment towards safeguarding democratic values.”
Last evening, Banerjee met Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut. Her meeting with Uddhav Thackeray did not take place as the Chief Minister is in isolation after a surgery. The BJP has brushed off Banerjee’s efforts to unite the opposition as the party’s senior vice-president Dilip Ghosh who hails from Banerjee’s Bengal, calling her Mumbai trip a “political drama” without any tangible result. Ghosh pointed out that neither Sonia Gandhi nor Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal met Banerjee during her recent Delhi visit.
“The politics that she is doing of dominating everyone is not being liked by those who were once on her side. She may go to Goa, Uttar Pradesh or Himachal Pradesh but she will not get any benefit and neither will she be able to help anyone. In states where Congress has weakened, maybe one or two retired politicians will take her side,” Ghosh said.
The possibility that she may be projected as the face of a United Opposition has irked other opposition parties. The Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said Uddhav Thackeray can also be considered as a prime ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections. After Mamata Banerjee won the West Bengal Assembly elections by a huge margin, she is believed to be now aiming to be the face of the Opposition to the disliking of the Congress and several other non-BJP parties.
“It is a good thing to form a national party. But who is with her? She tried to break Congress in Tripura and bagged some votes but was not successful. It is good that she has now gone to Maharashtra, where she attempted to wash away her sins of politics of violence and murders committed in Bengal by visiting Siddhivinayak Temple,” Ghosh said. He said the NCP had little problems so they might meet her. “Wherever she is going, she is cutting the votes of NCP and Congress by taking their leaders on her side. The big leaders, who went to Kolkata and got a picture clicked with Mamata Banerjee, are also not meeting her now.”
When asked if an alliance without the Congress was on the cards, Pawar said, “All those opposed to the BJP are welcome to join us. There is no question of excluding anyone.”
Earlier in the day, while interacting with some civil society members in Mumbai, the TMC chief said she had suggested to the Congress that an advisory council comprising prominent personalities from civil society be set up to give a direction to the opposition, but rued that the plan did not materialise.
If all regional parties come together, it would be easy to defeat the BJP, Banerjee said. “We want to say BJP hatao, desh bachao,” she said, adding that her party Trinamool Congress (TMC) would not contest the forthcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
To a query on if she would lead the opposition alliance against the BJP, Banerjee said she is a “small worker” and wants to continue so. Further, taking a veiled dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mamata said, “Continuous endeavour is necessary in politics. You can’t be abroad most of the time.”
She added that the BJP is “not safe” and the need was to keep the country safe.
Earlier on Tuesday, Maharashtra Minister for Minority Affairs and senior NCP leader Nawab Malik had remarked that an opposition front minus the Congress was not possible. Responding to questions about the TMC chief trying to displace Congress from its position of principle Opposition party using various tactics — including poaching of Congress’ MLAs as it did in Meghalaya recently — Malik said every party has a right to make efforts to expand its base, but it’s impossible to organise an opposition to the BJP by keeping Congress out.
On November 29, the Trinamool Congress had skipped a meeting of opposition parties called by the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge ahead of the Parliament’s winter session. It had also said that it is “disinterested” in coordinating with the Congress during the winter session of Parliament but maintained that it would cooperate with other opposition camps on various issues concerning people’s interest.