The monsoon session of Parliament begins on Monday, the day MPs will vote to elect the next President. But only three Trinamool Congress MPs — Saugata Bose, K.D. Singh and Deepak Adhikari (Dev) — will exercise their franchise in Parliament House.
The others will cast their votes in the Kolkata Assembly, under the watchful eye of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Early in July, Ms. Banerjee instructed all party MPs to write to the Election Commission seeking permission to cast their votes in Kolkata (MPs are expected to vote in Parliament House as a matter of course).
“The forms were duly filled and handed over to Manik da (aide to Ms. Banerjee), and Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Shekhar Roy hand-delivered them to the Election Commission office,” said a senior party MP on condition of anonymity. The three who will cast their votes in Delhi have reasonable excuses to do so, sources said.
Rampant poaching
Ms. Banerjee’s jitters is understandable, considering the fact that the National Democratic Alliance is leaving no stone unturned to increase the margin of victory of its candidate, Ram Nath Kovind.
The Trinamool’s Tripura unit has rebelled and all six MLAs have pledged support to Mr. Kovind.
The BJP has weaned away two MLAs from the Congress in the State, as well as bringing in several Independent MLAs in Meghalaya.
Free of party whips
The presidential election is free of party whips and cross-voting does not attract provisions of the anti-defection law. This herding of her flock is not the only way that Ms. Banerjee is making a point to the ruling BJP. Trinamool Congress representatives will not be attending the all-party meeting called by the government on Sunday, citing previous engagements with regard to the July 21 marking of Martyrs Day by the party.
Flurry of events
Significantly, however, party MP Derek O’Brien will attend the tea party held in honour of the Opposition’s presidential nominee, Meira Kumar, and another MP, Kalyan Banerjee, will attend Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s dinner for floor leaders the same day.
Therefore, only the intervening meeting, called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, will see a no-show by the Trinamool.
The Parliament session, presaged by the presidential contest, promises to be a fiery one.
