Alliance Of Inconvenience

The opposition’s inability to manage its numbers and the BJP’s skill in reaching out to fence-sitters are hurting the chances of an anti-Modi front.

- Soni Mishra

CARRYING A BOUQUET of bright yellow lilies, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee walked into 10 Janpath on August 1, for a meeting with United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. When she came out, she quoted Rabindranath Tagore to explain who would be the face of the opposition alliance. Seen as a claimant to the post, Mamata quoted the Tagore song “Amra Sobai Raja (Everybody is king)”. “This is the spirit of democracy,” she said. “Everybody is king. Everybody is equal.”

Mamata has been positioning herself as a prime ministerial probable, refusing to accept the primacy of the Congress in an opposition alliance. But with the Congress making conciliatory noises, the West Bengal chief minister announced that there was no race for the top job.

The need for a coordinated approach to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside and outside Parliament is agreed upon by opposition parties. Shortly after Mamata’s Delhi trip, the opposition was unanimous in deciding to approach the Election Commission to demand a return to the ballot system of election.

According to a top Congress leader, a broad consensus has been reached that the issue of who will be the prime ministerial nominee will be taken up only after the elections. “Our primary job is to defeat the BJP and the RSS. What happens after the elections will depend on how different parties perform,” he said.

Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said Mamata had been working to create a united force to take on the Modi government. “She is not hungry for power. She has said that if the need arises, she shall stand last in the queue,” he said.