Regional parties plan to form bloc, Cong may be sidelined

NEW DELHI: After its electoral debacle in the recently-concluded assembly elections to five states, the Congress now faces the possibility of being sidelined by a new bloc of regional parties in the Rajya Sabha. Parliamentarians from at least two parties told HT that a non-Congress bloc is now being considered.

The plan, however, may take some time as the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has only three MPs as of now.

According to functionaries familiar with strategy, communication channels between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and AAP are open for discussing the possibility of a non-Congress front. While AAP has made their stand against the Congress publicly clear, the TMC has distanced itself from Congress-led floor strategy meetings since last winter session of Parliament.

“We are thinking of a nonCongress bloc,” said a top TMC Rajya Sabha leader. The leader argued that the numerical strength of Opposition parties is a major factor behind this plan. “TMC has 13 MPs. AAP will have 10. Samajwadi Party will have four MPs after the biennial elections in UP. Together, will have 27 MPs,” said the leader, seeking anonymity. The Congress, too, is expected to shrink to 27 lawmakers from the existing 34 in the Upper House later this year, placing it level numerically with this proposed combination.

A leader who did not want to be named added that any future alignment in Opposition ranks will take place keeping the 2024 general elections in mind. “And AAP’s victory in Punjab would further boost optimism of regional parties,” he said.

TMC MP mentioned above said WB CM Mamata Banerjee had long advocated a third front led by regional satraps to take on BJP in 2024 polls.

In the last meeting of Opposition leaders in August 2021, Banerjee had demanded the inclusion of AAP, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and other parties in the group, but the Congress did not agree. Now, with AAP emerging as a potential replacement for the Congress in north Indian states, a realignment of regional forces in Parliament would gel well with the larger poll plan of opposition leaders.

The leaders involved in backchannel talks over this formation, however, did not appear eager to include TRS in the bloc. But they have another party on their radar: Biju Janata Dal.