Feeling ‘pressure’, allies ask congress to be accommodative, slam DMK treatment

NEW DELHI: Buffeted by political drift and marginalization of its key pillars, the INDIA bloc Monday decided to meet every two months to enhance cohesion in its functioning to counter the BJP onslaught. Its next meeting in August in Hyderabad will discuss an “organizational structure” for the common platform. The decision was taken by the alliance at a brainstorming session attended by 23 parties.

Taking stock of the state of opposition in the wake of the defeat of key members TMC and RJD in their strongholds, and the DMK walking out of the fold, the members acknowledged the weakening of the opposition – put in sharp relief by the presence of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee whose TMC is facing an existential crisis.

“Pressure” was the word used by key leaders Hemant Soren and Akhilesh Yadav to describe the present status. The Jharkhand CM, who joined the meeting online, is learnt to have said that he is “under pressure”, in what was seen as a reference to Jharkhand being the only remaining opposition state in the East. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who spoke first after Mallikarjun Kharge’s opening remarks, said the opposition had hoped that it would win in Bihar and West Bengal, but the defeats there have put pressure on UP.

Congress came under attack as the Left – CPM’s John Brittas and CPI’s Sandosh Kumar and D Raja – slammed the lead opposition player for alleging in Kerala elections that the Left was the “B team” of BJP. However, NK Premachandran of RSP accused the Left of targeting Congress with similar charges. At one point during the exchange, Rahul said he could defend his remarks on policies pursued in Kerala by the Left. However, he said that political statements should not be taken personally since state units also ask him to rebut the rivals. He added that Congress was ready to take the criticism and move forward. Adani also came up in the to and fro.

It was for the first time that the India block meeting was not attended by any of the major players of Tamil Nadu-DMK and TVK that came to power last month with opposition support.

CPM and CPI also slammed Congress for the DMK’s decision to quit the alliance, accusing it of instigating the Dravidian party by abruptly crossing over to the TVK after the TN elections. SP’s Akhilesh too mentioned “the reason” for the absence of DMK, as did RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav. Mamata Banerjee said DMK should be brought back in the bloc.

Rahul said Congress was a “party of resistance” and a struggle against the BJP was the need of the hour. It was felt that the opposition should coordinate with “people’s struggle” led by non-political groups.

Amid attacks, Congress also found support, with its bitter rival in the past Mamata Banerjee saying that the party should take the lead in INDIA. NC’s Omar Abdullah and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav said the alliance should focus on 2029 polls, with Abdullah calling Congress the national glue.

Akhilesh and Tejashwi asked Congress to show a big heart and back the regional players on their turf. Sources said the SP leader mentioned the 17 seats given to Congress in UP in 2024 LS polls, arguing that some of them could have been used to accommodate others (communities), and results could have been even better.

Mamata called for future unity by forgetting about the past. She also spoke about the Bengal elections, and the attacks on the TMC leaders, while saying that attempts were being made to break her party.