TMC clarifies Mamata Banerjee’s UPA remark

‘Since last seven years there is no governance of Cong at the Centre, hence factually there is no UPA’

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress on Thursday clarified its supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's comment on United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and said that it was made for the governance purpose.

While talking to the media persons here, TMC Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien said that "Since last seven years there is no governance of Congress at the Centre, hence factually there is no UPA."

He further mentioned that UPA was not a pre-election alliance, it was formed after 2004's Lok Sabha elections' result, while erstwhile Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh took charge on May 22, 2004. But since the last seven years from 2014, all alliance parties in fact performed poorly. " If you go by numbers, many of those parties have diminished strength in the House. But numbers do not matter as they are not in government. Her statement is factually correct," O'Brien mentioned.

However, he claimed that all opposition or like-minded parties are very much "united" in fighting against the incumbent BJP and on the issues like Women Reservation Bill, the new amendment on BSF's jurisdiction, Pagusus, disinvestment, ways to overcome the COVID crisis etc.

On the other hand, political experts feel that ever since the party bagged a stupendous victory against BJP in the assembly polls in West Bengal, the party seems to have shifted gears to expand nationally, across many states- Goa, Haryana, northeast states etc, mostly at the cost of the Congress. But the senior TMC leader claimed that the party is forming a unit in those states, where BJP has a weak opposition.

"We will not fight elections in Uttar Pradesh, neither we are looking for a party unit in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, nor in Maharashtra, as of now. BJP has strong opponents there. Why should we bother?" he asserted.