Mamata Banerjee appears to be racing in to stake her Trinamool Congress (TMC) claim to the major Opposition player’s space being vacated by the Congress, notwithstanding the Congress’s continued unravelling. From refusing to meet Sonia Gandhi during her recent visit to the national capital to launching a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi in Mumbai yesterday, the Trinamool chief has been attempting to position himself as the Opposition’s national pivot against the BJP. Banerjee’s efforts this time are not limited to visiting Opposition leaders, as her party continues to spread its footprints across the country by inducting leaders from other parties, particularly the Congress.
Banerjee also joined a virtual gathering of Opposition leaders held by Congress President Rahul Gandhi in August. She recommended that the Opposition leaders put their personal goals aside at the meeting, while also urging all Opposition parties to unify against the BJP. Banerjee has grown increasingly confident and ambitious, adopting an aggressive attitude, after shedding the label of “non-MLA” CM by winning the Bhabanipur Assembly bypoll on October 3. Banerjee visited Goa on October 28 to officially off the TMC’s election campaign in the coastal state as part of the party’s national expansion aspirations. To gain a foothold in Goa politics, the TMC enlisted the help of former Chief Minister and Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro, who was later chosen as the party’s national vice-president. He was just elected to the TMC Rajya Sabha.
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Tennis player Leander Paes and actor Nafisa Ali were recruited into the Trinamool fold during her visit to Goa. On October 25, the TMC admitted Rajeshpati Tripathi, an ex-MLC, and Laliteshpati Tripathi, a former UP Congress vice-president and ex-MLA, as two senior Congress officials from Uttar Pradesh. Rajeshpati and Laliteshpati are the grandson and great-grandson of Kamalapati Tripathi, the late UP Congress leader and ex-CM.
With Abhishek Banerjee, Banerjee’s nephew and the party’s national general secretary, playing a crucial role in the TMC’s growth strategy, the party has worked to build its organisation in many Northeastern states, including Tripura, Meghalaya, and Assam, in recent months. In recent months, it has also attracted a number of high-profile leaders, including Congresswoman Sushmita Dev and BJP ex-Union minister Babul Supriyo. The TMC secured the admission of Congress stalwarts Kirti Azad and Ashok Tanwar, as well as former JD(U) MP Pavan Varma, during Banerjee’s visit to Delhi last month. She had previously stated that she was willing to assist Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Banerjee, on the other hand, was frosty to the Congress on her visit to Delhi last month, declining to meet the Gandhis. She then visited with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invite him to the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), her government’s premier investment conference, which will take place in April of next year. The Congress has lately suffered another setback at the hands of the TMC, with political turmoil erupting in Meghalaya. Former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and 11 other Congress MLAs defected to the TMC, making it the state’s main opposition party. Banerjee’s recent trip to Mumbai, which has caused a stir, appears to be part of the same plan. She went after the Congress again after meeting with NCP head Sharad Pawar yesterday, rejecting the existence of the previous Congress-led UPA and implying the necessity for the development of an alternative Opposition coalition against the BJP regime.
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Banerjee organised an interaction session with civil society activists in Mumbai, with lyricist Javed Akhtar, social activist Medha Patkar, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, and actors Swara Bhaskar and Richa Chadha, as well as stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui among those who attended. “She is free to go around the nation,” West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar remarked in response to Banerjee’s recent travels to several states. Her personal goal is to bring the opposition together against the BJP.
We have no objections to this because it is her decision. Her objectives, however, will fail since her party has little support outside of West Bengal. Other regional parties lack a pan-India presence as well. As a result, these parties have little influence in national politics.” As the winter session of Parliament began this week, the Trinamul resolved to avoid attending Opposition party meetings hosted by the Congress. All of these initiatives are obviously part of the TMC’s strategy to present itself as an alternative to the Congress and to portray Banerjee as a significant member of the Opposition coalition who may be a “credible challenger” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
