The INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi on Monday was attended by leaders of 25 opposition parties. On the face of it, they agreed to let bygones be bygones, and give a united fight to BJP . But is it possible or feasible?
The meeting was convened at the request of Mamata Banerjee, whose party, Trinamool Congress has split, both in the assembly and Parliament. Mamata is in dire need of help to save her party.
Congress is now the biggest constituent of the so-called alliance. It has governments in three states.
This alliance, set up two years ago, is on a national level, but the fact remains that Congress has lost three Lok Sabha elections consecutively.
Among the regional leaders who faced electoral drubbings in the recent past include Tejashwi Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav and Uddhav Thackeray.
There were two other strong regional leaders, Arvind Kejriwal and M K Stalin in the alliance, but they have moved away from Congress. The alliance is now weak.
Rahul Gandhi now wants an alliance of leaders and parties which were defeated in elections.
Assembling parties of different hues may be the need of the hour, but none of them like each other from the core of their hearts. The choice is between the devil and the deep sea.
Who is the traitor?
On Monday, while Mamata Banerjee was attending the INDIA bloc meet, 20 out of 28 Trinamool Congress MPs revolted. They formed a group and wrote to the Speaker of Lok Sabha extending support to the NDA.
Already, 58 out of 80 Trinamool MLAs in West Bengal assembly have formed a separate group with Ritabrata Banerjee being recognized as Leader of Opposition.
Times change in a flash in politics. Those who had been Mamata loyalists are being termed as traitors. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the leader of breakaway parliamentary group, who stood with Mamata through thick and thin, has left.
But one must have a look at those left in TMC who are calling her a traitor.
MPs like Kirti Azad , who stayed in BJP for a long stretch, and later crossed over to Mamata’s party are now calling the breakaway MPs as traitors. This is like the pot calling the kettle black.