Patna opposition unity meeting got a setback due to Congress MLA’s change of guard in Bengal?
Kolkata (IANS) | The recent incident of the lone Congress MLA in West Bengal, Byron Biswas, joining the Trinamool Congress has once again raised questions on the seriousness of the ruling party being part of an anti-BJP alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
It was not even three months after Biswas was elected as the Left Front-backed Congress candidate in the bypoll to the minority-dominated Sagardighi assembly constituency in Murshidabad district that he decided to switch to the ruling party.
Only the state Congress unit president, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, remained vocal against the Trinamool Congress on the issue, finding no support from his party’s central leadership.
However, after Biswas joined the Trinamool Congress, the central leadership of the Congress also started speaking on the issue. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh issued a strongly worded Twitter message condemning the Trinamool Congress leadership for horse-trading from other parties.
In a Twitter message, Ramesh said, “Three months after being elected as a Congress MLA in a historic victory, Byron Biswas has decided to switch to the TMC.” This is complete betrayal of the mandate of the people of Sagardighi assembly constituency. Such horse-trading, which has happened earlier in Goa, Meghalaya, Tripura and other states, is not done to strengthen opposition unity and only serves the purposes of the BJP.
Within hours, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Congress was unnecessarily making an issue of the Trinamool Congress’ decision to contest assembly elections in states like Tripura, Goa and Meghalaya. He also claimed that it was not the right approach that only the BJP and the Congress should continue as the national parties of the country.
Political observers are of the opinion that there is little chance of the Byron episode being raised and vitiating the atmosphere in the Patna meeting of anti-BJP parties to finalize the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. According to political observer RN Sinha, just as Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary is leading the anti-Trinamool lobby in the Congress, there is a counter lobby in the party which is in favor of going soft on Mamata Banerjee.
I believe the second lobby’s pleas to go soft on Mamata Banerjee took a blow after the Trinamool Congress abstained from voting in India’s Vice-Presidential election last year, Sinha said. But this does not mean that this second lobby has become completely passive in its efforts to maintain cordial relations with the Trinamool Congress. Much will depend on who will represent the Congress at the meeting to be held in Patna on June 12. If the pro-Trinamool Congress lobby leaders do represent, then it is guaranteed that the Byron episode will not be touched even lightly in the Patna meeting.
He said that even if the Congress representative is from the anti-Trinamool lobby, the chances of raising the issue in the meeting are slim. At the most, Congress representatives can try to talk to Mamata Banerjee on the sidelines of the meeting and then take up the issue, he said.
However, another political analyst Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay believes that whatever be the outcome of the June 12 meeting in Patna, it will have no relevance in West Bengal.
“Simple arithmetic says that any seat-sharing arrangement between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress will never work for the next Lok Sabha elections,” he said. In the event of a deal with the Trinamool Congress, the Congress will get the maximum number of seats to contest, which are held by two sitting Congress MPs, one in Murshidabad district and the other in Malda. In contrast, in the event of a bargain with the Left Front, the Congress would manage at least seven seats, if not more. Therefore, the Left Front is the natural choice for an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal.
He said that given the seniority and dedication of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in the party, even top Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would not decide anything that would displease Chowdhury. Moreover, considering Rahul Gandhi’s personal relations with the CPI(M) leadership, especially party general secretary Sitaram Yechury, at least I see no reason for the Congress and the Trinamool Congress to go together in West Bengal.
–IANS
