In a significant move within the opposition coalition, RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday supported Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to lead the INDIA bloc, disregarding objections raised by the Congress. “The objection of the Congress means nothing. We will support Mamata. Mamata Banerjee should be given the leadership of the INDIA Bloc,” Yadav said responding to Banerjee’s remarks about her possible leadership role.
Earlier this month, Banerjee indicated there was a need for collective leadership in which “everyone needs to be taken along” as the opposition gets ready to take on the BJP-led central government. When asked why she herself has not taken charge, she replied, “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.”
The INDIA bloc’s leadership issue has cropped up in a host of discussions during the Winter Session of Parliament, which shows tactical divisions have cropped up over how precisely to challenge the Narendra Modi government. With Congress, under Rahul Gandhi, insisting on pressing for discussion on the Adani indictment issue, the Trinamool Congress is unrelenting in its plea before the House to take up some major issues like price rise, unemployment, and Manipur unrest. Significantly, MPs from the Trinamool and Samajwadi Party, the two largest opposition forces after Congress, did not join the recent protest over the Adani issue.
Gandhi has sharpened his attack over the Adani issue after a U.S. Department of Justice indictment against directors of Adani Green. The Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing, with Gautam Adani saying the group has gone through challenges in the past and that “every attack makes us stronger.”
But despite securing 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and thus consolidating its position as the principal opposition party, setbacks to Congress in recent state elections in Haryana and Maharashtra have contributed to tensions within the opposition ranks.
Sanjay Raut, the senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, has also echoed similar sentiments for a greater role for Banerjee in the INDIA alliance. “We know this opinion of Mamata ji. We also want her to be a major partner of the INDIA alliance,” he said, indicating plans to meet with her in Kolkata.
The echoes of support for Banerjee’s leadership aspirations also came from NCP founder Sharad Pawar, who said, “Yes, certainly she is capable of leading the alliance. She is a prominent leader of this nation. she has that capability.”
The INDIA bloc was formed last year when opposition parties tried to come together ahead of the elections as well as manage to restrict the ruling party below the majority mark in the Lok Sabha. Yet, this bloc has been finding it hard in states where constituent parties are directly pitched against each other and that is how the BJP slammed the “opportunistic coalition”.
