IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

Happening Now

Happening Now

TMC says it can’t be taken for granted for opposition unity

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress “cannot be taken for granted” for Opposition unity, said party leader Derek O’Brien today. Speaking to NDTV on why the party has chosen to abstain in the Vice-Presidential election on August 6, he said that the TMC — which has 35 MPs — is not an ally of the Congress and “needs no certificate of ideology on being opposed to the BJP”.

He slammed the manner in which the Opposition candidate — Congress veteran Margaret Alva — was chosen: “You call a meeting and then say there will be a press conference in 15 minutes… We are the second largest party in Parliament. We want to send a message to the Congress, which has a style of working. We have nothing against the person chosen.”

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhijit Banerjee, TMC National General Secretary, made the announcement in Kolkata: “The way the opposition candidate was decided, without proper consultation… We have decided unanimously to abstain from the voting process.”

O’Brien, asked if the problem was specifically with the Congress, said, “Please draw a clear line between the TMC and the formal partners of the Congress,” mentioning four of them — Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK, Sharad Pawar-led NCP, Lalu Yadav’s RJD and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

“Of course, there are like-minded parties across the country that we work with, against the divisive and bigoted ideology of the BJP. But not all such parties are allies of the Congress,” said Mr O’Brien, party leader in the Rajya Sabha.

He recalled how, in West Bengal last year, the TMC won an election against a Congress-Left alliance, besides the BJP. “That is the context.”

Asked if parties miffed with each other could challenge the BJP in 2024, he went back to his state: “What Opposition unity? When Mamata Banerjee won a third term as Bengal CM, Congress and CPM were in cahoots with the BJP.”

The TMC’s move away is significant as it was one of the prime movers in putting up a joint Opposition candidate for President, Yashwant Sinha, who fought what turned out to be just a symbolic fight against BJP-led NDA’s Droupadi Murmu. The Vice-Presidential polls aren’t expected to be any different. But Ms Alva is now further weakened as she fights NDA’s Jagdeep Dhankhar, with whom the TMC had a fractious relationship when he was Bengal governor until recently.

O’Brien echoed Abhishek Banerjee when he said the TMC was never going to vote for a BJP candidate — “the question did not arise” — so it was left with two options, either to back Ms Alva or simply not take part.

He said his party wants Opposition unity. “Remember who called the meeting to choose a joint candidate for President.. But please know, we cannot be taken for granted.”

With inputs from NDTV

IPA Special

BJP Leaders Have Started Course For Overthrow Of Nitish Kumar Regime

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Decoding My Seventy-Two Years In Independent India-Part Two

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Reining In ‘Freebies’ Needs Thorough Debate

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Release Of The Eleven Imprisoned Rapists Of Bilkis Bano Is Atrocious

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Heyday For Geopolitics Of Eurasian Transport

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Jagdeep Dhankar Had A Chequered Career Involving Many Political Parties

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

NATO Expansion Into Finland And Sweden A Danger To World Peace

August 17, 2022
Happening Now

DMK moves Supreme Court over ‘freebies’ term scope

August 17, 2022
Politics

R’sthan Cong Rs 20 lakh aid for slain Dalit boy’s family

August 17, 2022
Politics

Gehlot vs Pilot fight resumes ahead of polls next year

August 17, 2022
Happening Now

Azad quits J&K Cong panel within hours of appointment

August 17, 2022
Happening Now

Meira Kumar says ‘Chamar’ used as slur against her father

August 17, 2022
IPA Special

Prime Minister’s Five Pledges On Independence Day Mean Very Little To Poor

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Labour Movement Has Lost Its Earlier Striking Power

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Decoding My Seventy-Two Years In Independent India

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Achhe Din’ Now Needs 25 Years More

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Donald Trump Is On Dock Over FBI Seizures Of Classified Documents From His House

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Bihar Developments Are Going To Have Impact In Uttar Pradesh In 2024 Polls

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

Amrit Mahotsava Has Been Turned Into A Big Jumla By Sangh Parivar

August 16, 2022
IPA Special

For Global Arms Dealers, Russian War In Ukraine Is A Big Bonanza

August 16, 2022

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

DMK moves Supreme Court over ‘freebies’ term scope

August 17, 2022 11:04 am | IPA Staff

Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK has filed a petition in the Supreme Court in the ongoing case about “freebies”, contending that the scope of the term...

Happening Now

Azad quits J&K Cong panel within hours of appointment

August 17, 2022 9:11 am | IPA Webdesk

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad — long upset with the party — has resigned from a key party post in Jammu and Kashmir, signalling...

Happening Now

Meira Kumar says ‘Chamar’ used as slur against her father

August 17, 2022 8:07 am | IPA Webdesk

Meira Kumar, former minister, Lok Sabha Speaker and a Presidential candidate, reacted with a visceral tweet today to the death of a 9-year-old in Rajasthan....

Happening Now

China mum over talks to secure ship docking at Lanka port

August 16, 2022 11:14 am | IPA Webdesk

China on Monday said Sri Lanka has allowed its satellite and missile tracking ship to berth at the Hambantota port on Tuesday, but declined to...

Happening Now

DMK moves Supreme Court over ‘freebies’ term scope

in Happening Now
Aug 17, 2022   ·  

Azad quits J&K Cong panel within hours of appointment

in Happening Now
Aug 17, 2022   ·  

Meira Kumar says ‘Chamar’ used as slur against her father

in Happening Now
Aug 17, 2022   ·  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow us on
Up Next: AMLO Is Trying To Free Mexico And Latin America From US Hegemony
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved
Newspack by India Press Agency
Posting....
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets