By Rahil Nora Chopra
The Trinamool Congress is struggling with its biggest-ever internal crisis, with 58 MLAs wresting control of the party’s legislature wing, electing Ritabrata Banerjee as their leader and attaining recognition from the Assembly Speaker, while reaffirming Mamata Banerjee as the party’s leader. The move is being understood as an attempt to corner Abhishek Banerjee, whom Ritabrata has repeatedly accused of running the party like a corporate entity. This move will eventually put Mamata Banerjee in a bind, forcing her to make a choice between her nephew and the majority of the party’s legislators. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has dissolved all party committees along with those of the frontal organisations. Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha would comfortably cross the two-thirds threshold required under the anti-defection law. This could potentially allow their faction to stake a claim to the TMC’s name and symbol if a formal split occurs and Mamata Banerjee rejects their proposal. It also gives the rebels a moral high ground, allowing them to avoid the ignominy of being seen as wresting control of the party from Mamata Banerjee, who founded it. Moreover, the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel camp has also insisted that Mamata Banerjee must remain the supreme leader of the party, warning that they may reconsider their place in the organisation if she is reduced to a mere adviser. The concerns emerged following a meeting of the rebel legislature bloc led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
AHEAD OF INDIA BLOC MEETING, CONGRESS LEADERS PAY TRIBUTES TO KARUNANIDHI
In a significant political gesture, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on his birth anniversary, describing him as a champion of social justice and equality. Incidentally, the gesture comes ahead of an INDIA bloc meeting on June 8, expected to draw opposition leaders nationwide, including Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, who will likely raise the issue of attacks on TMC leaders in Bengal and rally support of INDIA bloc parties. Emphasis will also be on the DMK, which is annoyed with the Congress after it snapped ties and allied with the actor-turned-politician-turned CM Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to join the government in Tamil Nadu. Earlier, DMK Lok Sabha leader K. Kanimozhi had written to Speaker Om Birla urging that her party’s members be allotted seats in the Lok Sabha away from the Congress. The DMK has been given approval by the Lok Sabha secretariat to sit separately from Congress. However, DMK said that it will not take part in the INDIA bloc meeting taking place in Delhi, despite reiterating that it would continue to oppose issues it considers detrimental to democracy, secularism and the rights of states, such as NEET, SIR of electoral rolls and the One Nation, One Election proposal. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already publicly distanced itself from INDIA bloc and is not likely to attend the meeting. While Congress sources said efforts are on to bring on board TVK led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and his TVK, which aims to occupy the secular space, once claimed by the DMK. With the Congress on his side, Vijay has the much-needed secular credentials to take on the BJP. For the DMK, the Congress had provided the secular cloak thus far. Around 17 Opposition parties are expected to attend the meeting.
NEW KARNATAKA CM DK SHIVAKUMAR GRAPPLES WITH PORTFOLIO ALLOCATION
The allocation of portfolios has become a major headache for the newly elected Karnataka Chief Minister, D K Shivakumar. Senior Congress leader and Karnataka minister Ramalinga Reddy resigned from the cabinet on 5th June, saying that he stepped down as minister as he could not work against his conscience after being denied the Bengaluru Development portfolio he had reportedly been promised.“I will remain as an MLA and will not resign from the Congress,” Reddy said after tendering his resignation. Reddy is discontented with being assigned the Major and Medium Irrigation Department after missing out on the Bengaluru Development portfolio. The prominent portfolio has now been entrusted to senior Congress leader Krishna Byre Gowda. The resignation is likely to trigger fresh political ripples within the ruling Congress government, which has already been grappling with internal disturbance over portfolio distribution. Responding to the resignation of Ramalinga Reddy unhappy over portfolio allocation to him, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said Reddy is his great friend and assured to resolve the matter amicably through discussion.
NO WOMAN IN NEW CM DK’S CABINET STIRS CONTROVERSY, DISAPPOINTMENT
D K Shivakumar took oath as the 24th Chief Minister of Karnataka along with 13 Ministers. The new Cabinet’s composition is being empowered as a balancing act to appeal to different castes and communities within and outside of Congress factions. However, one glaring gap in the new dispensation has not gone unnoticed. There is no woman minister in the new DK Shivakumar cabinet. Veteran Congress leader and former Governor Margaret Alva flagged the omission. Sharing her disappointment, Alva said she would have loved to see at least one woman minister. Meanwhile, Congress has nine women legislators in the state – four MLAs and five MLCs. But not a single woman could make the cut in the first batch of ministers sworn in. Congress’ four women MLAs in the current Assembly are Laxmi Hebbalkar, Roopkala Shashidhar, Nayana Motamma and Kaneez Fatima. In the Legislative Council, the party is represented by Gayathri Shanthegowda, Pushpa Amarnath, Bilkis Bano, Dr Arathi Krishna and Umashree. Yet none were able to break into the first cabinet under Shivakumar’s leadership. On the other hand, Muslim religious leaders and clerics in Karnataka have demanded that five members from the community be accommodated in the state Cabinet, asserting that the Congress came to power with the support of Muslim voters. The demand was raised during a gathering of Muslim leaders and clerics at the Hazrat Syed Fateh Shah Wali Dargah in Bellinagar.
PAWAN KHERA, PRAVEEN CHAKRAVARTY, PRANAV JHA GET RAJYA SABHA NODS
Pawan Khera, the Congress’s media and publicity department chairman, has been nominated by the party for a Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka, alongside party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Mansoor Ali Khan. This is Khera’s first parliamentary role and his selection is seen as combined recognition for his organisational role and a strategic move to strengthen the party’s voice in the Rajya Sabha. The party has fielded All India Professionals’ Congress chief Praveen Chakravarty from Tamil Nadu. Chakravarty was one of the early advocates of a tie-up with the film star-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. In Madhya Pradesh, where the party can win one seat, it chose Meenakshi Natarajan, who had earlier represented the Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency. In Jharkhand, where the party can win one seat with the help of its ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Congress has fielded Pranav Jha, who is an All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary attached to the Congress President’s office. In Rajasthan, Neeraj Dangi, a sitting Rajya Sabha member, has been given another term. (IPA Service)
