Several Opposition parties are gearing up for the same strategy that Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal adopted last week. On the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament, when the Congress, left and other Opposition parties were holding discussions in the Rajya Sabha, Mamata and Kejriwal marched up to the President house and handed over a memorandum to him. The next day, when all other Opposition parties were busy in creating ruckus in Parliament, Mamata and Kejriwal addressed a rally at Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi and said they will take the battle against demonetisation forward.
Now, other Opposition parties are planning to march to the President house; they will hold a dharna and are also are planning a country-wide shutdown. Meanwhile, Mamata has again returned to Delhi. Next on her agenda is a tour of the entire country. She will go to the States where elections are scheduled to campaign against the BJP. She will also go to Bihar because Nitish Kumar has supported demonetisation.
A senior MP of the TMC says Mamata clearly wants to be a part of national politics. Now, it looks like she will set the agenda and the rest of the parties will follow suit. This year, just before West Bengal elections, Derek O’ Brien had hinted at Mamata’s ambitions and said that Delhi was only two hours from the State. So, Delhi is Mamata’s new destination, and looks like she has landed into national politics via demonetisation.
SONIA’S ClEAR INDICATION
After a long time, Sonia Gandhi attended a public function recently. She inaugurated an exhibition on Indira Gandhi’s life at Allahabad’s historical Swaraj Bhavan, which was also attended by Priyanka and Rahul. While interacting with the media, Sonia clearly indicated that Rahul would take charge of the party.
When someone said there was no strong leader in the Congress like Narendra Modi, she reminded people of Indira Gandhi. She said that when Indira had entered politics, people had raised questions and also criticised her. But she went on to become the president of the Congress and also took command of the country as the Prime Minister. Sonia’s statement is being analysed not just outside but also within the Congress.
A senior party leader says Sonia has indicated that despite all the criticism, Rahul is the leader of the Congress. He will become the president of the party, and when and if the Congress finds the opportunity, he would become the PM. People are saying that Sonia had indicated this to senior leaders of the party before the last CWC meeting. That is why Rahul presided over the meeting and all leaders requested him to take charge of the party. Sources in the Congress say the party can make the big announcement any time now.
TAKING A STEP BACK
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has given a big jolt to the supporters of Priyanka Gandhi, who used to raise the slogan, “Priyanka lao, desh bachao”. Sources say that in the past two weeks, many things have changed in the Congress. Sonia has given a stern message to those who use to advocate Priyanka’s entry into active politics and campaigning. Sonia has set aside all strategies and planning which had been prepared by supporters for Priyanka.
They had also geared up for a rally of Priyanka in Allahabad on November 19, and were hoping to rope her into election campaigning after the rally. But it is being said that Sonia didn’t give a green signal to this plan.
last week, two senior leaders of the Congress, Raj Babbar and Sanjay Singh, came forward in the media and said Priyanka would campaign in Uttar Pradesh and go beyond Amethi and Raebareli. Sources say that after this statement, Sonia and Rahul became angry, and the very next day, RPN Singh called a press conference to clarify that Priyanka had not made up her mind about campaigning. It is said that Sonia doesn’t want to create any confusion at this time. So, she has indicated towards Rahul and has also made it clear that Priyanka will not make her foray into active politics right now.
MAMATA PARTYMEN JUBIlANT
Mamata’s partymen are happy as they believe that the stature of their leader is increasing day by day. In UP’s election campaign, PM Modi targeted her by mentioning the Saradha scam, and this was the proof — they believe — that she had become the greatest challenge for the Government on issues of national importance. Modi targeted Mayawati too, but that was obvious since the BJP would be fighting the BSP in the State, say these leaders.
However, Mamata is ready to enter national politics via the Delhi route. Her recent anti-demonetisation rally in the Capital was not the first time when she has tried her luck here. Some time ago, she had addressed a rally at Ramlila Maidan along with Anna Hazare, though it was far from successful.
Sources in the TMC say Mamata will return to Delhi soon. She will try her hand at alternative politics — that of taking a separate path from the Congress and left. She will take the concept of Federal Front forward, which will be unlike the second and third fronts.
WHAT IS CONG’S STRATEGYIJ
Nobody could get a grip on why the Congress stuck for discussion on demonetisation under the rule of voting in the lok SabhaIJ In the same manner, nobody was able to comprehend why the party allowed discussion in the Rajya Sabha under no rule of votingIJ Also, one wonders why after discussion on the first day, the Congress started disrupting the House from the second day.
In fact, the confusion started on day one of the parliamentary session over the strategy of the Opposition. When MPs of the TMC, AAP, NC, and Shiv Sena went to meet the President the first day, the Congress and left went for discussion in the Rajya Sabha. After meeting the President, the TMC realised that it would not yield anything; in the same manner, the Congress and left thought that the discussion would not be of any help. So, they came together and stalled Parliament the following day.
On the other hand, the Congress has poor strength in the lok Sabha on its own. Old partners of the Congress, like the left, RJD and JDU, are also on the margins. There is not a single MP of the BSP and DMK, and SP has only five MPs. The AIADMK and BJD are with the Government. So, the Opposition has additional strength of Mamata’s 33 MPs only. In this scenario, voting will not serve any purpose. But the Congress is hopeful that stalling Parliament would certainly benefit the party.
‘MANN’ KI BAAT IN PUNJAB
Bhagwant Mann, the AAP MP from Sangrur, is flying high these days. He feels that at last Kejriwal has made him the CM candidate. Though there is no official announcement on this, he is considering himself as the CM candidate. Kejriwal had announced that Mann will be fighting against Deputy CM of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal, from Jalalabad seat. After this, Mann and his supporters have been on cloud nine and are claiming that the party high command has given a green light to his candidature.
Before this, Kejriwal had sent Mann to take part in Mamata’s march to the President house, making him AAP’s face of crusade against demonetisation. It now seems that Navjot Singh Sidhu’s entry into AAP has been blocked because Bains brothers have joined AAP. In this scenario, Mann is the only popular face in the party. That is why he doesn’t seem to be worried about his suspension from Parliament. In fact, he thinks it is going in his favour as he is using this time to prepare for the elections. He apparently also said that it was better to become Punjab’s CM than to sit on the back benches in Parliament.