Changing tack, the TMC and the AAP on Wednesday attended the meeting of “like-minded” parties called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata, who met her party MPs separately, directed them to go soft on the Congress and accommodate them and other Opposition parties as she mentioned that 16 Bills listed for passage this Winter Session directly interfere in State matters and need to be addressed in appropriate manner by the united Opposition.
Under intense pressure from the Opposition parties post school-level recruitment scam and arrest of her senior party leaders, Mamata dropped hints of cosying up with the Congress. Sources present in the meeting said she told her party MPs to handle Akbar Road (Congress HQ) with care and also forbid them from making adverse remarks against any Opposition party, particularly the Congress.
Leaders of 13 Opposition parties attended the meeting convened by Kharge to evolve a joint strategy for the Winter Session of Parliament.
Besides TMC and AAP, Left parties, DMK, RJD, AAP, NCP, NC and RSP were represented in the meeting convened before the session commenced.
The presence of the AAP for the first time in a meeting convened by the Congress is seen also against the backdrop of Kharge assuming charge and the absence of either Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi, who had kept distance from the Kejriwal-led party on several occasions.
The Opposition is seeking to corner the Government on several issues including price rise, unemployment and is demanding a discussion on the border security situation in the wake of “incursion” by China and the alleged misuse of agencies by the Government.
During the last couple of years the TMC used to abstain itself from the Congress-led Opposition meetings during the Parliament sessions and had expressed differences within the floor of the House on some Bills after Mamata had stated the non-existence of any form of UPA chaired by then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Those were the times when the TMC supremo had established a parallel contact with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and a couple of other opposition leaders.
Mamata, who chaired the TMC MPs’ meeting at the residence of senior leader Saugato Roy in Delhi, dwelt on two factors: Strategy and discipline. Strategically the MPs have been barred from speaking out of turn, particularly with the media without the permission of the leadership.
Besides, the Chief Minister has also asked the MPs to cultivate the other opposition leaders and even try to ensure floor coordination with the Congress MPs inside Parliament.
“Ensure floor coordination with the Opposition parties … and accommodate the Congress if they want to come along,” she is known to have advised her MPs. In an apparent bid to avoid inviting unnecessary reference of affairs — including job scam and law and order issues — in Bengal Mamata has asked the TMC MPs to raise pan Indian issues.
“She has asked to concentrate on issues not only related to Bengal but other States also … this is because being a national leader she thinks in terms of the general situation of the country,” one of the TMC leaders said.
As for maintaining discipline the Chief Minister has asked the MPs not to speak out of turn and not use disparaging languages. They will be required to discuss a matter inside the party before bringing them in public, sources quoting the Chief Minister said. “She has asked the MPs to think before making any statement as sometimes some remarks lead to big controversies,” a TMC leader said adding the MPs have also been asked not to go abroad frequently.
Making foreign tours subject to clearance from the party, Mamata has said that the MPs will have to devote more time on issues at hand instead of making foreign trips.
Talking to the media later, Mamata hit out at the government alleging it was using its majority to “forcefully” push through bills in Parliament and expressed concerns over the future of parliamentary democracy.
“You have seen that if the opposition raises its voice, because of the majority, the ruling party passes bills forcefully without even voting. They don’t accept reports of standing committees or select committees. We are afraid whether our parliamentary democracy will persevere and its prestige and respect which has been preserved till now will be protected,” she told reporters.
She further said that in a democracy there are many political parties, many ideologies but parliamentary majority always wins.
Insofar as disparaging remarks are concerned the Chief Minister has asked her MPs to maintain restraint apparently because she does not want to provoke Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah at a time when the ED and CBI were in the process of investigating recruitment and other scams, Bengal CPI(M) leadership said.
“This is the kind of bravery her nephew Abhishek Banerjee has been talking about … look at how the Chief Minister has surrendered before Modi and Shah because she knows that provoking them may land her and her family in trouble,” CPI(M) leader Kaustav Chatterjee reacted when sought comments on TMC’s new strategy.
“The thieves can never fight the BJP … only the Left has the courage to do so … the TMC and the BJP will continue to play the politics of ‘setting’ (read adjustment),” he said.
