I.N.D.I.A: Mamta’s claim to leadership
Political leaders are good at choosing time and place to foment a trouble. In this pursuit they are unmindful of the fact that what collective damage would it cause. Not that they are unaware of this collective annihilation. But then self-interest or self-glorification overrides everything else, at times, even the national interest.
Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Ms Mamta Banerjee, though a street fighter but a glorified sub-regional leader, is no different in this context. She has stirred a hornet’s nest by raising a red flag on Congress leading the I.N.D.I.A combine, a block of the opposition parties, at a crucial juncture and in the midst of Parliament Session.
This too when the Congress-led opposition was struggling hard to take the Adani issue to the next level to corner Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi. And that the Congress was struggling hard to recover from the electoral losses in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu region, its stronghold, of Jammu and Kashmir.
Why did she select this time? How and what does she stand to gain out of it? Why solely and squarely target Congress-the only political party in the opposition camp with pan-India presence, when even some of the allies did suffer similar electoral set-backs? Is there something more to her move in claiming the authorship of I.N.D.I.A bloc and laying claim over its leadership, at a crucial juncture?
Definitely, some of the opposition combine partners, directly or obliquely, gave an impression to back her claim to head the opposition brigade. Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, Shiv Sena (Udhav Thackeray) and even Samajwadi Party, within no time joined the bandwagon. It seemed momentarily the I.N.D.I.A bloc was on the verge of collapse under the weight of its own components.
Most of the political alliances of opposition parties have faced similar crises from their very inception. And many of them collapsed under their own weight-starting with the infamous crashing of the Janata Party which had come to power defeating the might Mrs Indira Gandhi.
The current political crisis, from the opposition’s point of view, is quite different from the previous ones. Firstly, the opposition parties of all shades, hues and sizes are fighting a battle for their individual and collective survival with a very aggressive and strong rival backed by powerful official machinery not averse to bend the rules of the game to secure a victory at all costs. No matter how it hurts the democratic and constitutional values.
Secondly, the fast-changing world order taking sharp ideological turn with region after region getting embroiled in bloody conflicts. The one’s on religious lines dominating the discourse thereby posing a danger to the world-order. Thirdly, even the internal societal situation in the country taking disturbing proportions thanks to the communal polarization adopted as the main wheel of statecraft by the BJP.
This backdrop makes the opposition unity more significant. More so, when even the Parliament is in turmoil with the same opposition jointly moving a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Chairman Mr Jagdeep Dhankhar. It is quite paradoxical to talk of opposition unity under the circumstances. Nevertheless, it is a must for the democracy to survive under the circumstances.
Ms Banerjee slamming the Congress under the garb of leadership issue with some of the allies quickly coming to her support has raised a very vital question for the I.N.D.I.A partners, barring the Congress, to reply. Are they arraigned against Congress or BJP?
The vital question which they should determine without losing any time: Who is their political enemy, Congress or BJP? They simply cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hound. All issues including that of leadership should be decided in a manner so as not to give an inch to the political rival to exploit it, and also not to transmit confusing signals to the public.
Ms Banerjee has chosen the time and place of her choice to raise the leadership specter in the fledgling opposition camp. Fact of the matter is that she and other opposition leaders such as Aam Aadmi Party chief Mr Arvind Kejriwal have never been favourably disposed towards Congress heading the opposition alliance. Reason being that they all see in themselves the prime minister in waiting.
Her banner of revolt with the backing of seasoned political manipulators like Mr Sharad Pawar and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, has not only come at a wrong time but has the potential of immensely harming the prospects of opposition unity. The signs and signals suggest that she has not acted in isolation. Or else, the Pawars, the Yadavs, the Thackerays…… would not have come out in support of her idea without mulling over for a second.
Yes, the Congress has its bagful of problems and failures. Its biggest failure has been the indecisiveness and inability to stem the rot in checking the termite effect of a strong brigade of old-self-seeking leaders. They have presided over debacle after debacle in their respective states-be it assembly or Lok Sabha elections-but have gone scot-free. The ultimate result is what happened in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. Ironically, leave aside rolling of heads or fixing the of responsibility, there is no visible movement in this direction.
This is where even the Congress’s fellow travelers in I.N.D.I.A combine are taking benefit of the situation and resorting to arm twist tactics to corner the party into submission. Notwithstanding the party’s countless failures, Congress with 102 MPs in Lok Sabha, some state governments and hundreds of MLAs across the states and Union Territories, cannot be expected to play a second fiddle. Or, cannot be forced, albeit, Mamta style, to withdraw to the margin.
To be fair to the Congress, the party leadership has, of late, part of a changed strategy tried to give more space to its partners in the states where they are strong. Even this has not satiated their desire and they wish to further corner the Congress as is evident from the latest crisis facing the opposition alliance.
First and foremost, Ms Banerjee and all other opposition leaders should stop perpetually going into a self-appreciation mode. It is not that they have all the virtues and others none. They must appreciate each-other’s strengths and weakness so as to collectively meet the formidable challenge posed by Mr Modi’s new look BJP with a new mode of statecraft.
When there is no Lok Sabha election in sight now, raising the leadership issue in an emergency mode, in the middle of Adani saga, can only have the baffling effect on public mind rather than endearing the opposition to them. Ms Banerjee and other opposition leaders are well within their right to have some misgivings about Congress and its leaders. So are the Congress’s top leaders.
All such issues need to be thrashed out through discussions within the four-walls. Making any such move public at crucial and trying moments will only raise doubts. It will only benefit the dispensation against whom the opposition parties have come together.
Leadership issue could have waited for a later day and for an opportune time. Presently, there are many issues which are crying for collective attention of the opposition parties. The serious questions raised on the sanctity of electoral process in Maharashtra and Haryana, rising unemployment, inflation and security concerns arising out of a dangerously evolving international situation and neighbourhood, and the societal conflicts with Manipur topping the list, are begging for the opposition leaders’ attention. Not the leadership issue at this juncture and time.
