Has Trinamool struck a deal with BJP? Latest events hint so

A string of developments that Bengal has witnessed in the past few days have sparked speculations about a TMC-BJP deal.

Non-BJP opposition parties in Bengal see the Trinamool Congress’s recent decision to abstain from vice presidential election as an after-effect of a tripartite meeting between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma and state Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 13.

Emerging from the 40-minute meeting at the Raj Bhavan in Darjeeling, Banerjee had described it as just a “courtesy meet over tea.”

Also read: Bengal teacher recruitment scam: Minister Partha Chatterjee arrested by ED

The political circles in the state are however agog with speculations about the real purpose of the meeting after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) made Dhankhar its candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election.

The announcement came just three days after the trio met “over the tea.”

Foe turned friend?

The choice of Dhankhar came as a surprise to many as the Jat leader is not an organic BJP man.

The BJP, however, was not Dhankar’s first choice, not second. The lawyer-turned politician before donning the saffron colour had served the Janata Dal and the Congress.

Even though BJP national president J P Nadda, while announcing Dhankhar’s candidature, described him as a “kishanputra,” the VP candidate does not have any strong political constituency of his own.

He is better known for his series of run-ins with the TMC government as governor of Bengal.
Given the strained equation Dhankhar had with the TMC as a governor, the real shocker came when the party decided not to support his challenger Margaret Alva, a joint nominee of a group of opposition parties for the VP poll.

Last-minute change of loyalties

The TMC on Thursday announced that it would abstain from voting in the elections, a move even the BJP says would help the NDA nominee.

The impact of the TMC’s decision will, however, not remain limited to the VP elections.

It has dented the prospect of any possible broad opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said his party has decided not to back the opposition candidate as it was upset over the manner Alva’s name was declared.

He claimed before announcing her name, the TMC was not consulted, a claim refuted by the Congress.

Congress sources said one of their senior leaders Jairam Ramesh was constantly in touch with the TMC. Besides, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge too on July 16 got in touch with opposition parties, including the TMC. He invited the parties for a meeting to discuss the opposition nominee for the vice presidential election.

The TMC abstained from the meeting held at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar on July 17. From the meeting Pawar reportedly tried to contact Mamata Banerjee repeatedly in vain.

Also read: After pani puri, Mamata makes momos at a roadside shop in Darjeeling

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that the TMC backed out of the vice presidential poll to “honour the deal it struck with the BJP in Darjeeling.”

Mamata has bigger fish to fry

Whatever be the reason, the TMC’s decision is a clear indication that the party is not very keen in siding with the Congress to jointly take on the BJP.

Significantly, the TMC also did not sign the joint statement issued by about a dozen opposition parties last week condemning the alleged misuse of central agencies against political opponents by the BJP-led Union government.

The statement was issued at the behest of the Congress in the wake of questioning of its chief Sonia Gandhi in the alleged National Herald money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate.

Just hours after the TMC announced its strategy for the VP election, Mamata Banerjee indicated that her party might not enter into a pre-poll arrangement with non-BJP parties for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The BJP will not get absolute majority and once it falls short, others (non-BJP parties) will unite and form the government,” she said addressing a mega annual event of her party in central Kolkata on July 21, the day the TMC announced its decision to abstain from voting in the VP-election.

She told a gathering at the Martyrs’ Day event of the TMC that her party would bring the opposition together to dethrone the Narendra Modi government once the BJP failed to get a majority.

Prime ministerial dreams

Clearly she was eyeing a lead role at the national stage, an ambition that got reflected in a huge banner carried by a group of TMC supporters at the Thursday’s rally that proclaimed “Bangali Pradhanmantri chai (we want to see a Bengali as Prime Minister.”

It was not a mere aspiration of just a group of overenthusiastic party supporters. In May this year, the TMC helped launch a campaign in the form of a website titled ‘India Wants Mamata Di’ to project West Bengal’s three-time chief minister as the next prime minister of India.

On the face of it, her assertion at the Martyr’s Day rally and the subsequent decision on the vice presidential election may appear contradictory, but many see it as a deliberate strategy to position the party as an alternative to the Congress, the country’s principal opposition party.

“The TMC’s anti-Congress positioning will indirectly benefit the BJP because it is only the grand-old party that can be a pan-India challenger to the saffron might,” said political commentator Ranjan Sengupta.

The TMC’s strategy further triggered speculation that it could be part of a ploy to protect Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee and her likely successor.

Also read: Mamata replaces governor as chancellor of state univs; Unconstitutional, says Dhankar

The CPI(M) on July 22 held demonstrations over non-inclusion of Abhishek Banerjee’s name in the CBI chargesheet filed last week in the multi-crore coal scam.

Banerjee and his wife were interrogated several times by the CBI in connection with the scam.

The party alleged that Abhishek’s name was dropped as part of a deal between the BJP and the TMC.

The tongues that were set wagging following the Darjeeling meeting did not stop even after the arrest of a senior TMC leader and minister in the teacher recruitment scam.

The TMC’s not so strong reaction to the arrest further kept the speculation alive.

“What was the deal struck between the BJP and the TMC in Darjeeling? Is it only to protect the nephew?” asked senior CPI (M) leader Sujan Chakraborty after a pile of cash was seized by the ED from the residence of a close-aide of a senior West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with a teacher recruitment scam.