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Ahead of Mamata Banerjee’s January-19 mega rally, which aims to present an united Opposition to the BJP, the Congress remains a divided house.
And in further trouble, the Congress leadership in Bengal has been left red-faced with the party’s high command deciding to share dais with Banerjee. Senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Abhishek Manu Singhvi will attend the rally.
The Bengal unit wants to “go it alone” here. In fact, the unit and its regional head Somen Mitra has requested AICC President Rahul Gandhi that none of the senior AICC leaders partake in the event. Singhvi was nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Bengal with support from the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Banerjee’s mega rally is said to be a show of strength with most non-BJP parties attending and expressing support for a united Opposition. DMK President MK Stalin, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, former PM HD Deve Gowda, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav, senior leaders from BSP, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and others will attend the rally.
‘Political courtesy’
Sources in the Congress indicate that senior leaders from the Bengal unit may skip the meeting. According to Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former WBPCC chief, Kharge’s presence is a “political courtesy” and it should not mean an alliance with Banerjee at the national level.
“There is a rally being held that will have presence of anti-BJP parties. Naturally, the Congress as a party should be present. So Khargeji’s is there more out of political courtesy,” he told BusinessLine .
This is not the first time that the Congress’ Bengal leadership has been over-looked by the high command in Delhi. Earlier, Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Sighvi had represented the West Bengal government in both the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court.
The latest stand-off came when Singhvi appeared for the State government and appealed before the Calcutta High Court to disallow BJP’s proposed rath yatra. The Bengal unit has been vociferous against such dual stand.
“While we understand that Singhvi is a professional, it is the local leadership that has to explain to the workers and supporters. We lose our support base as it is difficult for us to explain as to how a party’s Bengal unit — which opposes TMC — and the Central leadership can have a different stand,” Chowdhury added.
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