The Trinamool Congress’s silence on the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict speaks volumes. Party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is usually quick off the mark through Twitter and Facebook to articulate her views, has remained mum. And the party spokespersons have been told not to speak on the issue.
Even under severe provocation from BJP leaders on its silence, the TMC has remained quiet. On Monday, two days after the verdict, Ms. Banerjee uploaded a poem titled “unsaid” on her Facebook page.
“Often, a lot can be conveyed. Through silence.
Not saying something, Is often Stronger than saying anything,” its first paragraph read.
The poem was posted without any postscript or context, opening it to interpretations. Using silence, Ms. Banerjee and the TMC are attempting to dodge the trap of appearing as a party that does minority appeasement.
This is in stark contrast to November 8, 2016, when Ms. Banerjee was the first among the Opposition leaders to raise a protest against demonetisation . On November 17, less than 10 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised currency of ₹1,000 and old ₹500, she gathered a group of Opposition leaders to lead a march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan . Back then, the Congress was still struggling to formulate a position on the issue.
The TMC has often punched far above its weight, stealing many a marches over the lead Opposition party, the Congress. In the last many months, it is busy retracing its steps away from Delhi-centric politics, cocooning itself at West Bengal.
Parliamentary polls
The Lok Sabha results , with the BJP winning 18 seats and its tally being reduced to 22 from 34, came as a jolt to the TMC. Since May, the party has gone back to the drawing board and by enrolling the support of strategist Prashant Kishore, it is now reworking its positions on various issues.
The party’s silence on the Ayodhya verdict is also a part of this strategy, insiders say. “She is neither the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh nor the lead Opposition party of the country. The Ayodhya verdict doesn’t directly concern her, so why should she speak on it,” a top party leader said.
The TMC’s and Ms. Banerjee’s mandate was to properly administer West Bengal and that was what they would be concentrating on, the leader asserted. The party has set its eyes on April 2021 Assembly polls and not ceding any more space to the BJP. “When you have a war ahead, then you don’t waste your energies on smaller battles,” another party leader explained.
“If you were to look at the Lok Sabha election, how many seats did the Congress win in a direct fight with the BJP, barely five. Here, a frail lady stood against the might of the BJP to wrest 22 seats. And in 2021 Assembly polls, they will come with far greater resources. We can’t afford to take our eyes off that,” the leader said.
On November 25, three Assembly bypolls are scheduled in Kharagpur Sadar in West Midnapore district, Karimpur in Nadia district and Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur district. Kharagpur Sadar was vacated by BJP State president Dilip Ghosh and Karimpur by TMC’s Mahua Moitra on winning the Lok Sabha election. Kaliaganj fell vacant on the death of sitting Congress legislator Parmathanath Roy. The party is looking at these bypolls as mere blips on the road to April 2021. “How many bypolls did the BJP lose and then went on to rule the country,” the leader added.
From being a voluble Opposition, reacting to every twist and turn in national politics, the TMC is now eager for a course correction being seen as a regional force.
