Opposition unity a zero-sum game

The Opposition ranks gained an ally in Trinamool Congress, which has so far stayed away from all joint events, but lost an old ally Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray)

MPs of like-minded opposition parties wearing black as a mark of protest, during a meeting at Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber in Parliament House during Budget Session, in New Delhi, on March 27, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI

In a zero-sum game, on the first day of Parliament after disqualification of senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition ranks on March 27 gained an ally in the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has so far stayed away from all joint opposition events, but lost an old ally Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), which, irked by Mr. Gandhi’s “denigrating” comments on Savarkar, pulled back.

TMC MPs — Prasun Banerjee from the Lok Sabha and Jawhar Sircar from the Rajya Sabha — participated in the daily strategy meeting hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. In the afternoon, they also participated in the opposition protest march from the Gandhi statue in Parliament to Vijay Chowk. And the duo also attended the evening meeting called again by Mr. Kharge, inviting all floor leaders of both Houses of Parliament for dinner at his residence. A total of 18 Opposition parties attended the dinner meeting.  The former presidents of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, were also present. 

Following the dinner meeting, senior leader Jairam Ramesh said the 18 parties had resolved in “one voice” to continue their campaign against the Narendra Modi government for, what they called, “destroying democracy and subverting institutions”. “This resolve will be reflected in joint actions outside Parliament beginning NOW,” Mr. Ramesh tweeted.

Explaining why the Trinamool Congress, after days of remaining isolated from the rest of the Opposition, decided to join in on Monday, Derek O’ Brien, the Trinamool Parliamentary Party leader in the Rajya Sabha, said: “The BJP has crossed the line. Democracy, Parliament, federalism and the Constitution have to be saved. The Opposition is united in this cause.”

At the same time, by sending in MPs and not the floor leaders for these events, the party has signalled that it isn’t ready to go all the way through yet. The party maintains that the Congress can’t have double standards, expecting collaboration in Delhi while making personal attacks against the TMC leadership in State. They are particularly miffed with Congress State president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

A ‘God-like figure’

Shiv Sena (Uddhav) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi attended the morning strategy meeting, but the party did not send a representative for the opposition march or for the dinner. Party president Uddhav Thackeray, while addressing the Shiv Garjana rally at Malegaon on Sunday, categorically warned Mr. Gandhi not to insult Savarkar who is a “God-like figure” and not to make statements that can create fissures.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which had been keeping away from the opposition morning strategy meeting, especially since it is hosted by Mr. Kharge in his room inside Parliament while attending the protest, made an exception on Monday when the party’s Rajya Sabha leader Keshav Rao walked into the meeting.

To the question of whether Mr. Gandhi’s disqualification is an inflection point for the Opposition, Mr. Rao told The Hindu that the issue is far larger than Mr. Gandhi. “This is an era of regional parties. Whether it is us in Telangana or the TMC in West Bengal, we are the strongest forces to resist the BJP. And we can move forward together, only when the Congress acknowledges this fact,” he said.