NEW DELHI: A day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her willingness to take up responsibility as the leader of the INDIA bloc, a flurry of responses from alliance partners poured in. While the Congress played down her capability to assume a national role, Shiv Sena (UBT) adopted a different stance by accommodating her views.
Reacting to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s statement, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that they also want her to be a major partner of the INDIA bloc, adding that they will soon go to talk to Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.
“We know this opinion of Mamata ji. We also want her to be a major partner of the INDIA alliance. Whether it is Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal or Shiv Sena, we are all together. We will soon go to talk to Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata,” Sanjay Raut said addressing a press conference.
Speaking on similar lines, Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi acknowledged Mamata Banerjee’s statement and said this proposal would be taken up by senior members of the INDIA bloc members when the group meets next time. Priyanka Chaturvedi said that she has shown a successful model in West Bengal where she has kept BJP away from power.
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“She has put forward her statement. Because she has shown a successful model in West Bengal where she has kept the BJP away from power and implemented good welfare schemes…her election experience, and fighting spirit, accordingly she has shared her interest. Whenever INDIA bloc meeting takes place, our senior leaders will together take a decision,” Chaturvedi said.
However, Congress has questioned the TMC supremo’s ability to function as a national leader, given her role as the head of a regional party. “When the TMC won in West Bengal, they tried to expand their network across the country… They struggled a lot. To what extent they succeeded is clear from the fact that someone who couldn’t expand her party beyond Bengal—how can she fight on a national level? How can she lead?” Congress leader Udit Raj said on Saturday
Meanwhile, the BJP latched on to the internal discord within the alliance to single out the Congress and Rahul Gandhi‘s leadership. The BJP hit out at the bloc, describing it as nothing more than a group of parties united solely in opposition to PM Modi, with no other common agenda.
“This is a power struggle between people who do not match with each other. The alliance and Congress have completely succumbed under the weight of Rahul Gandhi. Congress and Rahul Gandhi are nothing more than a liability. The sole purpose of the INDI block is to ensure political placement and protect a corrupt clan,” said BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Saturday.
The responses come after Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she was ready to lead the opposition if asked. “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.”
Over the past week, 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.
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 have intensified after Congress’s losses in Haryana and Maharashtra.