The New Boss?

With Nitish Kumar Re-aligning With the Bjp, Opposition Parties Are Scrambling to Find a New Alliance Leader. Could It Be Mamata Banerjee?

- Kaushik Deka

On July 31, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: “Congratulations to the five @AITCofficial candidates elected today to [the] Rajya Sabha and [also to] the sixth supported by us.” It read like an innocuous self congratulation, but party insiders say it was also a communique to anti-BJP parties—especially the Congress.

Following Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s re-alignment with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders believe that Banerjee remains the only opposition leader with pan-India appeal. They say that she alone can bring together opposition parties for a united fight against the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “We have the numbers in Parliament and our chief minister has mass appeal beyond West Bengal,” says a TMC Rajya Sabha member. “Of course, the Congress and the [All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] (AIADMK) have more numbers than us, but the Congress is yet to find a leader and the AIADMK is split.”

There is some merit in his statement. Leaving aside the two national parties, the TMC has the second highest number of seats in Parliament, with 34 in the Lok Sabha and 12 in the Rajya Sabha. The AIADMK is marginally ahead (37 and 13 seats respectively), but is currently factionalised. That aside,by voting in favour of Ram Nath Kovind for President, the AIADMK factions have already declared an informal alliance with the government at the Centre. That leaves the TMC as the strongest anti-BJP party among non-Congress opposition parties. With 20 Lok Sabha and eight Rajya Sabha MPs, the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) comes in after the TMC, but the Odisha chief minister, facing a tough challenge from the BJP in his home state, is unlikely to be interested in a national role.