Last week, opposition parties met twice in the Rajya Sabha – first to give notice to move a motion to remove Vice President and Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar, and second to demand the impeachment of controversial Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav. But these two displays of cooperation have brought little enthusiasm for the India bloc, and certainly little hope of unity.
While the India bloc needs a congenial environment and a meeting of minds to create a common agenda or programme, most parties are pulling in different directions – be it on the question of leadership or the issues the alliance needs to address.
The late KM Mani, once a veteran of Kerala politics and leader of the Kerala Congress (as distinct from the Congress), was fond of saying about his party: “We are a party that grows as we grow and grows as we divide.” In the case of the India Bloc, it is not growing in electoral power, while its differences on issues are increasing.
After the results of the Assembly elections, the Congress failed to make any impact, and the alliance is also working by hiding its differences. Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) – most of the India bloc parties are not on the same page as the Congress on their pet issue, the allegations against the Adani group. With that, he stopped the symbolic daily protest of the party in the parliament.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has earlier consistently attacked the Adani group, has also kept its distance, rejecting the Congress leadership’s push for an alliance for the Delhi assembly elections. Nudges from stalwarts like NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar did not help, while in a subtle message to the Congress, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav stood by Kejriwal at an AAP event in Delhi on Monday.
Over the weekend, another ally joined the chorus against Congress. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who has previously come clean about the Congress, questioned the Congress’ stand on EVMs and said, “You can’t have a problem only after you lose an election”.
Monday, the Trinamool CongressThe Congress, which was among the first parties to demand the return of ballot papers, has run afoul of its anti-EVM rhetoric. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that it was his personal opinion that those who doubted the EVMs should be able to prove the alleged discrepancies with them. “If they are unable to do that, they should protest on the ground. Two or three words are not enough.”
Twisting the knife, Banerjee suggested that the real problem may be that the Congress is not necessarily active on the ground. He had been overseeing TMC’s electoral efforts on the ground for some time, Banerjee added. “If you work well during EVM irregularities and party workers at polling stations check EVMs during fake polling, or review Form 17C used to check ballot units or control units during counting, I don’t think there is anything substantial in it. These allegations .”
This is the second swipe by the TMC against the Congress, days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was happy to lead the Bharat bloc “if others cannot manage”.
In his remarks on Monday, Abhishek Banerjee said the Bharat Bloc will discuss Mamata’s proposal. “She is the most senior (in the block). She has been a seven-term MP. And she is a three-time chief minister. She has been a four-time Union minister… I think there should be a detailed discussion,” Banerjee said.
While other opposition parties like SP and DMK defeated the BJP as part of an alliance, the TMC defeated it on its own, Banerjee said. “In fact, it has defeated both the BJP and the Congress. This shows its strength.”
Veteran RJD leader Lalu Prasad also sent a warning to the Congress with his comments supporting Mamata. As the countdown to the Bihar elections begins, even long-time supporters of the Gandhi family seem to be weighing their options.
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