West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress party remains in a precarious position in the united opposition battle for the Speaker election. After starting the day by complaining that it was not consulted about fielding a candidate, it voiced its opposition to the Congress’ decision, keeping the alliance on edge over its support for K. Suresh.
According to sources, a meeting of the Indian Alliance was held at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Tuesday evening where the Trinamool Party expressed doubts over the decision to hold the elections. On whether to support K Suresh against BJP candidate Om Birla, the party said it would convey its decision by 9 am today.
Sources said the party is alleging that some of its members have not been able to take oath and some of its opposition lawmakers are in jail, so elections at this juncture will only show the strength of the NDA.
The Congress party’s last-minute decision to field Suresh and force through the election drew a backlash from the Trinamool Party, which criticised it as a “unilateral” step.
After a few hours and explanations, the party softened its stance and attended the opposition meeting, only to express reservations.
Prior to the meeting, Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met Trinamool Party’s number two, Abhishek Banerjee, while Suresh had called the party seeking its support.
The Indian National Congress said it had decided to field a candidate just 10 minutes before the deadline, leaving it with no time for consultations. It was upset at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s refusal to give the vice-chairman’s post to an opposition party and denying it its right.
This morning, the government made it clear that while it was seeking a nod for Om Birla, it was not considering him for the Deputy Speaker post for now.
Taking on the charge of Leader of Opposition, Indian National Congress’ Rahul Gandhi said, “Chief Minister Rajnath Singh has called Mallikarjun Kharge and sought his support. All Opposition parties have said they will support him but as per practice, the Deputy Speaker should be chosen from our side. Chief Minister Rajnath Singh said he will call back but he is yet to call. The Prime Minister has sought cooperation but our leader is being insulted.”
The Trinamool, which has never enjoyed good relations with the BJP, had reserved its membership of the Indian Union ahead of the elections following a dispute over the allocation of parliamentary seats in Bengal.
After the election they rejoined the alliance, but today was the first day that the results were available, causing unrest within the alliance.
The Trinamool was not alone. After the meeting, sources stressed that alliance leaders had not been informed about Sonia Gandhi’s decision to appoint her son Rahul Gandhi as Leader of the Opposition.
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