TMC's decision to abstain from voting in vice-presidential polls dents opposition unity hope

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision on Thursday that her Trinamool Congress party will abstain from voting in the vice presidential elections scheduled for August 6, has dented the unity of opposition parties that was forged before the Presidential polls.
TMC, one of the largest parties in the opposition camp, after Congress, has been a key constituent of the united forces against the ruling BJP and its allies and Banerjee has been a prime mover in the group, especially since she emerged victorious in the assembly polls last year to be chief minister for a third term. With TMC’s withdrawal from the vice presidential polls, the opposition evidently suffered a major jolt, in its coordinated fight against the ruling regime.
TMC on Thursday blamed Congress for withdrawing from the joint opposition efforts to support former Congress member Margaret Alva as their vice presidential nominee, saying Banerjee was “not consulted” about the choice, as expressed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata.
“Congress party has to treat all opposition parties as equal partners. It is not for us (other parties) to endorse every decision taken by Congress and the CPM general secretary,” said TMC MP Derek O’Brien, when asked about TMC’s decision that will hurt opposition unity efforts during the on-going monsoon session and beyond.
When Banerjee took the initiative to get all parties including Congress, Left and others on board during the Presidential polls, calling a meeting of all the parties here to deliberate on a joint candidate, Congress, some its allies like DMK and RJD, CPM were among parties that “grudgingly” marked their presence at the meeting, by sending MPs or parliamentary floor leaders, instead of their top leaders attending. That had seen Banerjee keep away from the second round of meeting where Yashwant Sinha’s name was announced, after he was made to resign from TMC, as the joint Presidential candidate of 18 opposition parties.
That she was “not consulted” while deciding on Alva, was the final reason for Banerjee pulling out from the Opposition’s joint efforts. According to sources, while Banerjee has been taking the lead in uniting the opposition parties, without leaving it to the usual ritual of Congress initiating such matters it has upset those who have always played the lead role. Even on Thursday, Banerjee addressed a huge gathering of her party workers and supporters in Kolkata saying it was the TMC’s responsibility to throw out the ruling BJP at the Centre in 2024 (Lok Sabha polls). Soon after that she took the call to abstain from the vice presidential polls.