Her strategy is to first unite the Opposition parties, then find a suitable narrative acceptable to all and finally think of a leader

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee made a whirlwind trip to Delhi last week, for another attempt to unite the opposition parties.  She met all the right people and made adequate noise about the eluding opposition unity. Will she be able to succeed where others have failed? She is all but ready to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 polls.

It is not her first attempt to unite the opposition. She tried to forge a third front ahead of the 2019 general elections but did not succeed. The Opposition bloc also lacked a face to pit against Modi. Above all, without Congress, there cannot be a government, arithmetically.

This time Mamata has started early, almost three years before the next Lok Sabha polls. “Nothing can be done by a doctor who comes after the patient has died. The patient can be saved if treatment is given on time. Now is your time. The more time you waste all the more the situation will worsen,” Banerjee said. She wants to expand her winning slogan “Khela Hobe” as a national slogan.

No doubt, after winning West Bengal for the third time in a row, Mamata Banerjee’s stature has gone up. She has dropped enough hints to show that she is now ready for a national role. It is to prepare for this role she came to Delhi.  Her poll strategist Prashant Kishore prepared the ground before her arrival. Mamata declared that “regional parties will lead the nation, we will not bow down before anyone anymore, the time has come”.

One of the biggest challenges before the opposition is to show a united face against the BJP before the 2024 polls.  There are too many regional chieftains claiming to be the face of the opposition.  Mamata has belled the cat once again.

Mamata also understands now that without Congress, there can be no opposition front. Arithmetically, it is difficult to form a government. To soften the Congress, she met Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi during this trip.

Though Congress is the oldest national party and has ruled the country for long, it presently faces too many problems. They include a leadership crisis and a weakening party organisation.  Sonia Gandhi has taken a backseat due to health reasons. In 2004 she went from one party leader to the other and united the heterogeneous opposition block successfully. Her son Rahul Gandhi is still not ready.

The second problem is that the regional satraps are not keen to accept Rahul as their leader. Congress is not willing to consider any regional chief as the leader. Some parties like the BJD, Samajwadi Party, and Bahujan Samaj Party are neutral. That is why it is not easy to visualize a united opposition emerging before 2024.

Mamata has set off speculation whether she could be the catalyst to unite the opposition parties.  She has good relations with many regional satraps. They include Sharad Pawar of Nationalist Congress Party, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Telangana chief minister K.Chandrashekar Rao, besides Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S, Jagan Mohan Reddy, and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

During her current visit, Mamata seems to have made up her mind to project herself as a mature leader who can be courteous to a bitter political enemy. This was evident when she called on the Prime Minister. The photograph showing Mamata greeting the Prime Minister with folded hands and a bowing Modi has gone viral.

In her interaction with the national media also, she spoke along similar lines. She kept the media guessing with her one-liners.  She said, “I think all these will happen automatically… I am hopeful” and “I will not lead, the country will lead … We are all followers”, etc.

In her speech, Banerjee took her winning slogan “Khela Hobe” (Game On) to the national stage and declared that “Khela” would happen in all States before the 2024 elections. This slogan is to underline that it is possible to defeat the BJP.

The opposition sees a possibility of building up a narrative before the next Lok Sabha polls and the upcoming Assembly elections in many States. She said: “In politics, there are times together for the sake of the country. This is that time.”

Whatever may be the outcome, Didi is determined to be in the game. She has defined the fight as the country versus Narendra Modi.  Her strategy is to first unite the opposition parties and then find a suitable narrative acceptable to all and think of a leader later.

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.)