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Congress expresses no surprise over the Mamata Banerjee-Arvind Kejriwal plan and intends to reject the proposal.
Story by: Koshik Kumar
NEW DELHI: Despite the opposition bloc’s astonishment at the suggestion made by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal to nominate Congress chairman Mallikarjun Kharge as the convenor/PM candidate, Congress was aware of the notion due to informal signals from allies in the last several months.
Five parties discussed the plan, which is believed to have the support of TMC and AAP leaders, in the two days preceding Tuesday’s INDIA bloc meeting. In addition to DMK, others engaged included Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar of the NCP. Thackeray did meet with Rahul and Kharge before the meeting, but it doesn’t seem like they discussed the matter there. However, there was an element of surprise for a few other satraps, such as Nitish Kumar from JD(U).
According to insiders, Congress is not perplexed by the plan and has made it plain that it would not accept Kharge’s forecast since it may cause needless conflict. Furthermore, it has been reported that Congress had stated that “they will have to sort it out among themselves” but that it had no issues with Banerjee or Kumar taking on the role of convenor.
In addition to the “usual games” that satraps play among themselves, sources claimed that the constituents felt that a prominent Dalit leader taking a stand against Modi would unite the SC community and provide the opposition with a solid platform.
Insiders think this kind of message can be sent to voters through open discourse and doesn’t have to be as obvious as a name announcement. Kharge’s quick rejection of the plan at the INDIA meeting and his claim that the bloc should concentrate on gaining seats demonstrated Congress’s clarity. However, Congress is aware of the other strong demand from allies that seat-sharing be finalized as quickly as possible, and the party intends to expedite the process. One step in that approach is the “National Alliance Committee” that Congress established on Tuesday.
Drawing from the narratives of a minimum of three sources, the discussion surrounding the ordinance proceeded as follows:
- Kejriwal was upset that he could not get in touch with Rahul to talk about the problem. Then, during the joint press conference that followed the meeting, he urged that Congress make a public statement against the ordinance in front of the media.
- Rahul said that while Mallikarjun Kharge, the party’s president, was there, he would not speak on the matter.
- Kharge questioned Kejriwal’s ability to believe that the Congress would back a BJP-introduced, undemocratic ordinance.
- The Congress should then make its position on the ordinance clear, according to Kejriwal.
- According to Kharge, the party has leaders in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, thus certain procedures are in place. According to him, the party’s parliamentary board would convene before the monsoon session to make the choice.
- Everybody was listening intently as the two exchanged viewpoints. Mamata was the first to step in and provide a solution to settle the issues, despite some dissenting voices against Kejriwal’s persistence.
“Kharge-ji was not getting through to Kejriwal, and things were getting serious. Even though there were a few other top executives there, Didi was the one to go in and grab the microphone. A source mentioned her request that Rahul and Kejriwal meet and stated, “This can be sorted out, as Parliament’s monsoon session is coming up.”
After telling Kejriwal that she had previously supported his cause in common with many others, she went on to suggest that he should believe what Karge-ji had stated in front of so many influential people. The source claimed, “Main hoon na (Am I not there?) was her last words.
According to a source close to Nitish, the chief minister of Bengal had a crucial role in making the meeting “successful,” and the chief minister of Bihar was “very appreciative” of what she accomplished.
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