TMC, Congress eye joint plan for 2nd half of Budget session
NEW DELHI: The Congress and Trinamool Congress are likely to coordinate their strategies in some parts of the Budget session in the Rajya Sabha, people aware of discussion said on Sunday, citing a series of recent back-channel conversations amid an acrimonious election campaign that has pitted the two parties against each other in Goa.
Indications that the two sides could put aside their differences temporarily came after a senior Congress strategist, regarded as a confidante of both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, called a key Trinamool leader of the Rajya Sabha, a person aware of the discussion said, asking not to be named.In the brief conversation, the Congress leader told the TMC MP that the party “will support your (TMC’s) notice against West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in the Upper House”, this person added.
“The TMC lawmaker thanked him and asked if he can inform his party’s top brass about the Congress’s assurance. The Congress strategist replied in the affirmative,” this person said.
While the conversation suggests the two parties are likely to call an albeit temporary truce for the Parliament session, there is no indication that ties between the TMC and the Congress are improving at a larger scale for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress top brass remains suspicious of the TMC’s strategy given the latter’s aggressive position lately and its plans to contest in many states outside Bengal, the person quoted above said. “But, in floor management and in matters of Parliament, specifically, opposition parties can work together,” said a senior TMC functionary, asking not to be named.
It was not the only back-channel conversation between the two sides. A few days ago, an important TMC leader dialled another top-ranking Congress leader and offered to work together on the floor of the House in the second half of the Budget session. “Let the Goa elections be over,” this leader is understood to have told the Con“Hum gress side, according to one of the people cited above.
On Saturday morning, a few Congress leaders met online for a quick follow-up meeting after the party’s parliamentary strategy group met on Friday and decided to take along all likeminded parties to raise issues such as farm sector problems, the Union government’s disinvestment policy and Chinese incursions. A Lok Sabha MP from the Congress, present at the meeting, said: “We will first reach out to DMK, RJD, Shiv Sena and NCP. Then we will talk to the Left parties and other partners. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge will also talk to TMC leaders informally.”
While a better coordination between the TMC and the Congress is expected in the second half of the session, any notice from TMC against the Bengal governor might invoke a unified Opposition. TMC leaders have told the opposition parties that they plan to bring a “substantive motion” — an original motion that does not include an amendment or a procedural motion — against Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who raises frequent objections and seeks replies from the Trinamool government on state affairs and administrative matters.