TMC-Cong ‘backchannel talks’ bolstered opposition unity

NEW DELHI: Soon after the winter session of Parliament ended a day ahead of schedule on Wednesday, the 12 suspended opposition MPs called off their protest at the Gandhi statue, but not before Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge joined them to wrap up the dharna by singing the National Anthem together.
For the entire session, the site of the Gandhi statue was witness to opposition unity while proceedings were disrupted in both Houses.
While there was talk of rift between Congress and TMC because of the latter’s expansion moves beyond Bengal, the two parties remained in tough through back channel communication to coordinate opposition moves, sources said. The six suspended Congress MPs played their role in convincing their leaders on holding the joint dharna, sources said.
It was TMC, which mooted the idea of the sit-in protest at the Gandhi statue as a mark of protest and discussed it with members of Samajwadi Party, CPM, CPI, DMK and Shiv Sena, who agreed with the idea. “The plan was to think of a way to protest that would last the entire session,” O’Brien told reporters on Wednesday.
The protest venue saw members from all opposition parties joining the dharna as a mark of solidarity. It was a ritual for members of different parties to take turns in bringing lunch for the suspended MPs. In fact, Kharge suggested there should be only vegetarian food at the venue in deference to Mahatma Gandhi, all others followed.
“We saw the tactics of (Narendra) Modi and (Amit) Shah, when the suspensions came. It was to create disruption. They do not want Parliament to run, as that would make them accountable to people,” O’Brien said.