Advantage BJP in TMC vs Congress

Since it is still a long way to go before the Lok Sabha polls, a divided oppn in Parliament will signal that Modi is still the beneficiary of the TINA factor

A week, as the Trinamool Congress proved recently, is a long time in politics.

We can safely assume that Mamata Banerjee was relieved when the Election Commission, upon the Bengal chief secretary's request (for which the Calcutta High Court has reprimanded him), opened the door for her to go to the assembly by announcing the bypoll in Bhabanipur. There was little doubt that Banerjee would win from her old fortress, but the Congress party decided not to field a candidate against her as a courtesy.

The TMC's actions within days of this told us why a week is a long time in politics. The party started gunning for the Congress, and it is now turning bitter. So much so that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, when prevented from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri with his sister and other Congress leaders, questioned the Uttar Pradesh administration for allowing MPs from Mamata Banerjee's party and leaders from the Bhim Army.

Also Read | Is Prashant Kishor out to damage Congress outside Bengal?

The TMC's reaction to Rahul Gandhi's comment was acerbic. Its spokesperson Kunal Ghosh tweeted, "Rahul Gandhi should not try to confuse people by distorting facts. The TMC will not accept any loose non-political comment from any part-time politician who has failed to combat the BJP." Ghosh added for good measure, "The INC is a loser in their traditional UP, including Amethi." It was a reminder that Rahul Gandhi lost to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

However, Rahul Gandhi merely repeated, albeit indirectly, his party leader Adhir Chowdhury's allegation. Chowdhury, the Congress's leader in the Lok Sabha, had said that the TMC has a "secret understanding" with the BJP. He said the two reached this understanding after the central agencies tightened the noose around "the nephew", a reference to Abhishek Bannerjee, who was the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had summoned repeatedly.

Chowdhury had retaliated against the recent onslaught of the TMC against the Congress. The Congress could ignore it when Abhishek Banerjee, the undisputed number two in the TMC, started snatching away their leaders in Tripura. But Rahul Gandhi and the rest could not be similarly indifferent when Sushmita Dev and Luiziho Faleiro joined the TMC. Sushmita Dev, a popular leader of the Bengalis in Assam, was a president of Congress's women's wing and daughter of old Congressman Santosh Mohan Dev. Faleiro is a seven-term Congress MLA and formerly two-time chief minister of Goa.

The TMC also started saying that at the national level, Mamata Banerjee should lead the opposition. And now Mamata Banerjee herself has echoed the view. In the festival issue of her party's mouthpiece, she has written that the party is getting invited from different states to come and take up leadership. "The Trinamool Congress has become the face of the real fight against the BJP. The people of the country are now dreaming about a new India centered on the Trinamool Congress," she stated.

Also Read | Congress failed to fight BJP, onus now on TMC: Mamata

Of course, every party should dream big, expand itself at the cost of other parties. If the Congress cannot keep its flock united against the onslaught of the TMC, that is entirely its problem. But the fallout of these skirmishes within the opposition camp, and the TMC's new adventurism in states where it has no existence, like in Goa, can be manifold.

First, a message gets relayed that the opposition is busy in an internecine fight to clip Rahul Gandhi's wings. Given the context that Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar's preference in UP is for Akhilesh Yadav over Priyanka Gandhi, it would seem a coordinated move is on against the Gandhi siblings. But if Mamata Banerjee or Sharad Pawar believe they can pressurise the Congress to give up its claim on the prime ministerial chair, it is equivalent to daydreaming.

Second, since it is still a long two-and-a-half-year to go before the Lok Sabha elections, a divided opposition in Parliament will signal that Narendra Modi is still the beneficiary of the TINA (there is no alternative) factor.

Lastly, it is too early to judge if Sushmita Dev or Luiziho Faleiro are using the TMC to raise their bargaining chips with the Congress in the future. If it so happens, it will be a significant loss of face for the TMC.

In short, it is all to the BJP's advantage at the moment. And that is the tragedy of the opposition of India, and the country too. Even if for nothing else but the sake of a strong democracy, India badly needs a stronger opposition presence in the Lok Sabha.

(The writer is a journalist based in Kolkata)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

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