PANAJI
Days after Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee used strong words to refer to the Congress as the reason for BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi growing stronger, her closest aide operating in Goa Derek O’Brien has called for a change in mindset for a “united fight” against the saffron party.
O’Brien who is the TMC’s most recognisable face in Parliament and has shepherded the contours of the party’s footprint in Goa said to a national TV channel: “The mindset has to change - we are equal partners in the opposition. Let’s work together on this, rather than talk down to us. There is no need to fight. Our single goal is to defeat the BJP.”
O’Brien’s posturing comes a day after results to bye-polls across India inflicted some losses on the BJP, some gains for the Congress and in Bengal, the TMC swept all four seats.
But in Goa, the TMC and Congress have been at loggerheads and Banerjee herself has called for a front with regional and smaller parties like Goa Forward Party, NCP and other players even as she harshly criticised the Congress for its delay and indecision to strike alliances.
The West Bengal chief minister who was in Goa on a three-day visit last week to boost her party’s intended foray into the electoral arena for the 2022 polls, even went to the extent of saying that Modi is going to be very powerful because of Congress’ indecision on aligning with regional parties.
“Modiji is going to be so powerful because of Congress. If one cannot take a decision why will the country suffer for that? They have got enough opportunities. Instead of BJP they contested against me in my State,” Banerjee had said at a breakfast meeting with journalists.
The Congress responded in equal measure with its senior leader P Chidambaram, who is in charge of the party’s 2022 Goa campaign, making light of Banerjee’s harsh words when he debunked her view as “parochial” and one from a very Bengal lens.
At a press conference in Panaji on Monday, Chidambaram conceded the sheen of Banerjee’s win in a tough battle in the Bengal polls, but debunked her claim that the Congress’ indecision on alliances with regional parties was making Modi all the more powerful.
“Who is fighting Narendra Modi in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Assam? It is the Congress,” Chidambaram had said.
Around a month ago when it announced its decision to contest the Goa polls, the TMC had pulled a surprise when it weaned away one of the Congress’ senior most loyalist Luizinho Faliero.
Faleiro a former chief minister quit as MLA of Navelim and joined the Banerjee-led outfit on September 29, hailing her as a “fighter” and the only leader who can defeat the Modi-Shah led electoral might.
TMC’s poaching of its leaders and workers understandably has sown intense bad blood against it within the Congress ranks. Whether or not O’Brien’s latest posturing for an “united fight” against the BJP will thaw the ties and pave the way for engagement to clinch a united electoral alliance of the Opposition will now be keenly watched by observers.
