By Atul Chandra
At a meeting called by Congress President Sonia Gandhi in August this year emphasized on the need for Opposition unity for taking on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. At the meeting attended by 19 opposition parties Sonia Gandhi said, “We all have our compulsions, but clearly, a time has come when the interests of our nation demand that we rise above them”.
West Bengal Chief Mamata Banerjee, who was present at the meeting, said that all opposition parties, including “even those not allied with Congress”, should be included in such meetings. “Forget who is the leader, let’s keep our personal interests aside,” she said as there were speculations about who will lead the Opposition in its fight against the BJP.
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Much water has flowed under the bridge since that meeting and the idea of Opposition unity has started to unravel with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress preparing for a face-off in Goa.
Training her guns at the grand old party, Mamata Banerjee said in Goa on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become more powerful as the Congress is not serious about politics and does not take decisions. Her anger stemmed from the fact that the Congress contested the West Bengal elections against the Trinamool Congress. A similar situation is emerging in Goa where the TMC will contest on all 40 seats.
In a kind of Gandhigiri, Mamata said she did ‘namaste’ with folded hands to those who welcomed her with black flags on arrival in Panaji. That was a different approach from the “Khela hobe” gauntlet she threw in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in West Bengal where a Jai Shri Ram slogan at a non-political event drew the battle-lines between Trinamool Congress and the BJP. Besides black flags, Mamata was welcomed by Jai Shri Ram posters alongside TMC posters claiming “Goa’s New Dawn” (Goenchi Navi Sakal). Despite being made to bite the dust by Kolkata’s street-fighter in West Bengal, BJP’s Amit Malviya tweeted, “Mamata Banerjee’s reputation of being anti-Hindu in Bengal has tailed her to Goa, where she is being welcomed with giant size posters of Jai Shri Ram.” Mamata remained unruffled as she mingled with fishermen in a crowded fish market.
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Her Goa visit has virtually dashed all hopes of Opposition unity as she readies the TMC to take on not only the BJP but also the Congress, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena and the Aam Aadmi Party, besides eight regional parties. Although it is unclear at this stage if the TMC will ally with the NCP and any of the regional parties, Congress won’t be in her scheme of things as she bids for the role of leader in a united Opposition.