After expressing his earnest desires for the last six months to assume the role of Convener of the Opposition grouping INDIA bloc, JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declined the offer made during the virtual meeting of Opposition leaders. In that meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was named the Chairperson of the large alliance preparing to take on the juggernaut of Narendra Modi-led BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
Major stakeholders, including Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, skipped the meeting for the second time in a fortnight. Despite pressures from other allies, there has been no consensus headway in the seat sharing for the general elections.
AAP, which also attended the virtual meet, had a separate meeting between Kharge and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the presence of Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, and other AAP leaders at the residence of the Congress chief.
Sources said that the intense deliberation, which also saw participation by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, reached a consensus to choose Kharge as the Chairperson of the INDIA bloc. Nitish was another contender for the top post, but in the meeting, he proposed someone from Congress should assume charge.
Further, when the proposal for the Bihar CM to be named as Convener was raised, the senior JD(U) leader declined, albeit mentioning that he would discuss the matter with the two big absentees, Mamata and Akhilesh, before expressing his mind.
Nitish spearheaded the Opposition unification since last June, and through his party leaders, he has often made his intentions clear to secure the coveted post.
Recently, Nitish effected a major change in the party by taking over the reins of JD(U) from his closest aide and party Lok Sabha MP Lallan Singh after it is believed that the former was not happy with the latter, who could not oppose the name of Congress president as the bloc PM candidate in the meeting held in Mumbai.
After Nitish refused to take the post immediately in the virtual meeting, Kharge said he would discuss the issue with Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav.
According to an INDIA bloc functionary, the convener of the alliance will be just below that of the chairperson.
INDIA is a group of Opposition parties, including the Congress.
The parties have come together to take on the BJP and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While the party’s position in the INDIA bloc continues what is worrisome is the seat sharing with bigger allies ans in states with large number of Lok Sabha seats. In Uttar Pradesh, the SP will not budge from taking the huge pie. In recent Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, Congress did not honour SPs demand of assembly seats and since then the relationship between Congress and SP is at its lowest ebb and leaders from both sides washed linens in public.
Congress’s discussion with AAP is also proving contentious. While the party pressing for 4 seats in Delhi and seven seats in Punjab, AAP is not ready to comply. In both Delhi and Punjab, the ruling party wants the bigger share of seats. AAP also wants to contest in Goa, Haryana and Gujarat, sources said.
TMC which abstained from the virtual meeting though affirmed its commitment to it but said that Congress should recognise its limitations in Bengal and permit the party to spearhead the political battle in it.
“We are committed to the INDIA alliance and want to work together to defeat BJP. But we sincerely wish that the Congress leadership acknowledges the limitations and weaknesses of their Bengal unit and allows us (TMC) to lead the fight in the state,” a TMC senior functionary said.
The TMC had already announced that Mamata Banerjee will not be able to attend the virtual meeting as she has “prior engagements and will not be able to change them at 16 hours notice”.
“We were told that no one else can attend as only one person is allowed from each of the INDIA constituent parties,” the TMC member said.
Earlier, TMC had declined to send representatives to meetings with the Congress’ national alliance committee on seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, citing its prior stance, which it had communicated to the Congress.
The TMC had offered Congress two seats in West Bengal based on the result of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The Congress, however, deemed the offer inadequate.
Last week, TMC Lok Sabha Party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay indicated the party’s willingness to collaborate with the Congress but said the party will go solo if negotiations fail. Recently, state Congress president and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is a vocal critic of TMC, asserted that his party will not “beg” for seats from TMC.
In the 2019 elections, TMC secured 22 seats, and Congress bagged two, while BJP secured 18 seats in the State.
Banerjee’s proposal for an alliance between TMC, Congress, and the Left in West Bengal in November last year met swift dismissal from the CPI (M) and criticism from some Congress leaders.
The TMC had allied with the Congress thrice in the past - the 2001 assembly polls, 2009 Lok Sabha elections, and the 2011 assembly polls, which saw the ousting of the CPI(M)-led Left Front government of 34 years.
