NEW DELHI/PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday endorsed Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s desire to take over the reins of INDIA bloc from Congress, days after Sharad Pawar too had backed her.
“Congress’s reservations (on this) amount to nothing. Mamata ko do (give her the leadership role),” Lalu said.
Congress, though, played down the issue. At a meeting with party MPs, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have advised them to ignore what is seen by the party to be a “media-manufactured” issue and mere “posturing” by allies. Rahul’s Adani focus, Congress unilateralism rile INDIA allies
Though Lalu supported Mamata’s claim to lead the anti-BJP alliance, it may be recalled he had consistently backed Congress since the days when Sonia Gandhi was struggling to shake off the “foreigner” tag.
Other allies of Congress, such as Shiv Sena (UBT) and SP , have made few bones of their reservations about Congress continuing to lead the opposition alliance despite having been consistently underwhelming in election contests since the LS polls where it significantly improved its tally.
YSR Congress, which is not part of INDIA group, too reiterated support for Mamata, calling her the “most capable leader to lead the bloc”.
There have been palpable signs of uneasiness with Congress’s unilateralism in deciding priorities of the alliance. Allies are also upset with Rahul’s fixation with the Adani issue which, many feel, has deprived them of the opportunity to use Parliament to seek to corner govt on issues like inflation which, they maintain, resonate better with people. Congress’s poor performance in Maharashtra, Haryana and J&K and its manifest inability to be competitive against BJP in direct contests have weakened its case to be the natural leader of the opposition alliance.
Considering that INDIA bloc, despite having Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as its president, is not a structured entity and does not have a secretariat or a programme of action agreed upon by all stakeholders, Mamata’s claim appears to be a challenge to Congress’s “size matters” assertion and to make the intra-alliance equations more symmetrical.
Congress is not pleased and its annoyance with Lalu came to the fore, with Congress secretary Shahnawaz Alam saying the party deserved to lead the alliance by virtue of its sheer strength.
“Lalu ji is known to say lots of things casually. Let him place on record his views whenever INDIA bloc holds meeting. What does he mean by saying there should be a leadership change? Does he want Rahul to be replaced as LoP , a post our representative holds by virtue of the party’s strength in LS?” he asked.
Courtesy : TOI
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