NEW DELHI: Days after TMC MPs floated the idea of appointing Mamata Banerjee as the leader of the INDIA bloc, the West Bengal chief minister herself weighed in on Friday, saying she is ready to lead the opposition bloc if asked.
The statement from the CM comes amidst simmering disagreements within the INDIA bloc over issues ranging from Congress’s recent electoral defeats in Haryana & Maharashtra to its insistence on debating “one specific issue” in Parliament.
“I formed the INDIA bloc; now it is up to those leading the front to manage it. If they can’t run the show, what can I do?” Banerjee said during a television interview.
“I am not leading that front,” she added.
When asked if she would accept leading the opposition front against the BJP-led NDA government, she responded, “If given the opportunity, I would ensure its smooth functioning.”
In recent days, TMC MPs like Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad have urged Congress and other INDIA bloc allies to set aside their egos and recognise Mamata Banerjee as the leader of the opposition alliance. They touted her consistent record of defeating BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in West Bengal.
“Mamata Banerjee has a perfect record. Whenever Narendra Modi has faced defeat, it has always been in West Bengal. Even in the recent by-elections, where the BJP had one seat and we had five, Mamata Didi hit a six and threw Narendra Modi out of the West Bengal boundary,” Kalyan Banerjee asserted.
However, Congress dismissed the TMC’s proposal, calling it a joke. “That’s a good joke,” Congress leader Manickam Tagore quipped when asked about the suggestion to make Banerjee the leader of the opposition alliance. Meanwhile, the BJP has hit out, saying the alliance was nothing more than a group of parties that had come together to oppose PM Modi and had nothing else in common.
“Mamata Banerjee’s statement makes it clear that the entire INDI alliance does not have faith in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi This also shows that the INDI alliance leaders have an internal competition with each other,” said BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Saturday.
At the outset of the winter session of Parliament, the TMC also toed a different line from Congress by opposing constant parliament disruptions over the alleged Adani issue, instead advocating for the smooth functioning of the House. “TMC wants the House to run so that people’s issues can be raised,” TMC leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien said last week after din in parliament stalled proceedings.
While Congress demanded a discussion on industrialist Gautam Adani’s alleged involvement in bribery and fraud cases in the US, the TMC, along with allies like the Samajwadi Party wanting to hold the government accountable on issues such as central funding and the crisis in Manipur. The TMC also skipped INDIA bloc meetings at the start of the winter session, where the agenda for the parliament session was discussed.
Despite being members of the INDIA bloc, the relationship between the TMC and Congress has often seen rough patches. From the TMC contesting Lok Sabha elections independently to disagreeing on seat sharing, the differences between the two parties have come up often, and it has intensified after Congress’s losses in Haryana and Maharashtra.