"Corruption, Quit India !! Appeasement, Quit India !! "
- Modi coins new slogan to take on I.N.D.I.A alliance
Has Mamata hijacked entire Opposition?
New Delhi
The Opposition MPs coming for the day's proceedings in Parliament in black attires have hitheadlines on Thursday, July 27 --- a day after Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's No Confidence Motionagainst the Modi government was accepted by Lok Sabha Speaker.
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| 2023: MPs in Black |
BJP lawmaker and Leader of the Upper House (Rajya Sabha), Piyush Goyal has already mocked theCongress and said even black crows have given them a chase."I think that the people who are wearing black clothes can't understand the increasing power of the country....Their present, past and future are black," said Goyal in the Rajya Sabha amid slogan shouting.
Losing may be one way of learning how to win; but can this dictum work for the opposition parties?
The BJP leaders say the Modi government and the members of Parliament have been witness to 'black attires' antics earlier as well.
"In 2014 itself....none other than the Mamata Banerjee brigade got the smell that tough days have come for them under Modi dispensation. I still recall our member Anurag Thakur participating in a debate on Black moneyhad alleged Trinamool members that they had come to Parliament with “black umbrellas only to mislead the people”,"says one senior BJP leader.
In fact, the saffron party MPs and Trinamool Congress members did debate over Saradha chit fund scam raucously.
“The CBI will bring out the truth….we are waiting for the day,” Anurag Thakur had said in 2014 alluding toSaradha Chit Fund scam that rocked Bengal politics then.
Among other things, Anurag Thakur, then only an MP, also had said, “Why the Chief Minister (Mamata) had ordered that all schools and libraries in Bengal should have the newspapers from a particular group".
In fact to counter the BJP lawmaker, Trinamool floor leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay among othershad challenged Thakur for an exclusive debate on the Saradha scandal.
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| Trinamool MPs in Black: 2014 |
The BJP lawmakers also point out by autumn of 2014, the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit had started feeling the 'heat' of CBI probe and hence they indulged in all sorts of "antics and dramas".
The Trinamool MPs came to the House with Black Shawls and once also the women members staged demonstration in Parliament premises carrying water pots (gharas) on their heads."It was the beginning of a nervousness and slowly the winds of Poriborton (change) was being feltand by 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the bitterness was extreme and we could win 18 seats," says a BJP leader.
However, in 2023 it seems the Congress has agreed to play second fiddle to the Trinamool Congress, which is only a splinter group of the grand old party.
BJP lawmaker such as Sudhanshu Trivedi says, "It was surprising that within days of Congress leader Adhir RanjanChowdhury stating that there is no democracy in Bengal and that Congress workers were killed by Trinamool workersduring Panchaya polls, they rushed to Bengaluru to join hands to save Indian democracy.... Moreover, after Mr Mallikarjun Kharge, Ms Mamata Banerjee was given a due to time to speak".
"Thus, I say this alliance is a result of nervousness and they are in jittery," he said.
It is possible new-found bonhomie between Trinamool Congress and the Congress has forcedeven others to raise eyebrows. Even parties such JD-U will be a bit upset as in that case NitishKumar may fail to get the leadership of the 26-parties strong newly floated 'I.N.D.I.A' alliance.
But at the end of the day how much difference 'black attires' politics will help the opposition in 2023-24remains to be seen. As of the past, such a gimmick did not impress anyone for Trinamool Congress.
However, the Congress leaders feel that among the leaders in the 26-party combine, Mamata Banerjeeis a fierce fighter and there is another big asset is that she has a big time fan-following among Muslim voters and her appeal to Muslims could help the Congress at the national level.
Last but never the least, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress share the same DNAof almost identical political legacy. Besides TMC, NCP, Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP and even K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS (earlier TRS) have Congress DNA.
Of them, the NCP has split and the large group is now already with the BJP while the YSRCP has announced its decision to back the Modi government during No Trust Motion. In 2018, as matters related to Special category status for Andhra Pradesh was in debate, the YSRCP had voted with other opposition parties against the NDA.
The BRS wants to chart out a road map of its own and KCR-led outfit had stayed away from both Patna and Bengaluru conclave of the opposition parties.
In fact, the BRS also announced that it will move a No Trust Motion against the Modi-led dispensation.
ends
(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of the books
'The Talking Guns: North East India', and 'Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth'. Views expressed are personal)
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