TMC may skip INDIA meet, Samajwadi Party to take call later

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, December 4

Congress’ rout in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh on Monday cast a shadow on Opposition unity with the Trinamool Congress unlikely to attend the upcoming INDIA bloc meeting in the Capital and the Samajwadi Party saying it will decide on participation in time.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee today said she had no information of any such meeting in New Delhi on December 6 and had prior week-long engagements in North Bengal.

“I will visit North Bengal from December 6 to 11. I do not know of any meeting. Had I known, I could have rescheduled, but now I am proceeding on my tour,” Banerjee said when asked whether she would attend the meeting called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Not aware of Dec 6 meeting

I do not know of any meeting on Dec 6. Had I known, I could have rescheduled (visit to North Bengal), but now I am proceeding on my tour. —Mamata Banerjee, TMC supremo

The TMC is likely to skip the meeting with Mamata not indicating if she would depute someone else for participation. The SP also said it will decide on attendance in time.

Both Mamata and the SP today blamed absence of opposition unity in the cow belt states for Congress’ poor show. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav pointed to “Congress arrogance” after the party lost to the BJP in all three states. “Several decisions taken by one party in the Assembly polls in five states led to consternation among some members of the INDIA alliance and there was a lack of coordination. As far as this meeting (INDIA meeting) goes, the SP will take a decision in time,” SP spokesperson Abbas Haider said today.

JD(U) leaders in Patna also asked the Congress to show a bigger heart while formulating strategies to take on the BJP in 2024. Ashok Chaudhary, former JD(U)working president, said: “Had the Congress invited leaders like Nitish and Mamata for the campaign, it would have gained.”

Bihar minister Vijay Chaudhary noted united opposition in five states would have yielded different results. Though the Congress today said it was close behind the BJP in terms of vote share in the three states, party leaders privately admitted they were shaken by the results. General secretary MP Randeep Surjewala said an assessment of “unexplainable results” was underway.

Many Congress leaders viewed with concern the emerging north-south political divide with the party appearing to gain only in South (winning Telangana after Karnataka) and the BJP consolidating its hold over the Hindi heartland and accounting for 145 Lok Sabha seats out of 543.

The Congress now has a government only in one northern state — Himachal Pradesh — which has four LS seats.

Many Opposition leaders today said the worry was BJP’s Hindi heartland gains in the LS polls could outstrip those in state polls on account of the Modi factor, which outweighs others when voters face leadership choices at the national level.