Mamata Calls Meeting Of Opposition To Decide On a Joint Presidential Candidate; 16 Parties Join
By Krishanu Sarma – 16th June 2022
16 opposition parties on Wednesday, joint the meeting called by West Bengal Chief Mamata Banarjee to discuss the opposition candidate for the upcoming Presidential polls.
Image: google
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banarjee on Wednesday invited leaders from opposition parties to discuss the strategy for the forthcoming Presidential elections. Overall 16 opposition parties attended the meeting. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Biju Janta Dal (BJD), and Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) skipped the meeting.
The meeting was attended by the top leaders of Congress and the Left, leaders from NCP, Shiv Sena, SP, NC, PDP, and IUML were also present. The name of the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar was proposed again in the meeting but he declined it.
After concluding the meeting, the Bengal Chief Minister said, “ Several parties were here today. We’ve decided we will choose only one consensus candidate. Everybody will give this candidate our support. We will consult with others. This is a good beginning. We sat together after several months, and we will do it again”.
According to reports, Banerjee suggested the names of former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi as opposition candidates for the presidential polls. Gandhi said he will think about it and get back to the opposition. As of now, there is no response from Abdullah.
Sources said Defense Minister Rajnath Singh reached out to many opposition leaders, which includes Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, and Akhilesh Yadav, on 15th June and took their suggestion for an unopposed Presidential candidate. When the opposition parties asked the Defense Minister about the name preferred by the government, there was no response from Rajnath Singh hence the opposition was non-committal in their responses.
Why the TRS and AAP skipped the meeting:
The TRS and AAP remained absent from the meeting on Wednesday because TRS doesn’t want to share the stage with congress. The AAP said they will look at the issue only after the candidate’s name is declared.
Opposition Still divided:
Although 16 parties attended the meeting called by Mamata Banerjee, it cannot be said that there are no cracks in the opposition. The congress is currently busy with rallies in support of its former President Rahul Gandhi, who is being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money-laundering case. Actually, there is no proper opposition camp, but it’s mostly the Congress-headed United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Congress is in power in states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and is playing the role of junior partner in states such as Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu. Congress has also backed non-ruling allies like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Bihar. But it doesn’t look like it will make much difference.
Mamata Banerjee is realizing the value of opposition unity for the Presidential Polls and also for the big show of 2024. Banerjee is trying to bring the entire opposition to the same floor, but the Congress party doesn’t want to get overshadowed by a former Congress leader.
The left doesn’t share a sweet history with Mamata and it is unlikely that the left will follow everything suggested by the Bengal CM. Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal’s AAP has always been a critic of Congress and it is unlikely AAP and Congress will come on the same page. On the other hand, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has his own plans for national politics.
It looks like a divided opposition may again end up helping the BJP in a big and important poll.
