TMC is competing against both Congress and the BJP in Goa. Image files
New Delhi:
The Trinamool congress will not participate in any meetings called by the Congress party before the winter session of parliament starting Monday, sources told NDTV. The party’s Goa unit wants them to stay away from any face-to-face meetings because they are up against both Congress and the BJP in the state, they said.
Trinamool Congress leaders, who wanted to be named, said there would be opposing unity across the strata of the house but that attending morning meetings and being seen together would be difficult.
Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge called a meeting of all opposition parties in his chamber for Monday morning. He cited the success of unity among all parties during the monsoon session of parliament as the reason and is expected to build consensus ahead of the winter session. Responding to accusations by Parliament leaders that Trinamool is helping the BJP by undermining their party, they said they cannot be accused of playing into the hands of the BJP as people have seen how West Bengal Minister Mamata Banerjee fights the BJP in the state.
Trinamool staying out of the meeting could keep other parties like Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party, among others not part of the UPA, away from the meeting. In the previous session, most of the opposition parties blocking the Bahujan Samaj Party united, cutting differences to prevent parliament from demanding a discussion on the issue of Pegasus snooping, among others.
The move deals a blow to Congress, which has been calling for unity of the opposition even amid flashpoints in Goa and Meghalaya, where the Trinamool Congress has managed to register Congressional leaders. , effectively reducing the presence of Congress in the two states.
At least 12 of the 17 MLAs of the Congress in Meghalaya have joined Ms. Banerjee’s party. In Assam, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana as well, the Trinamool Congress entered at the expense of the Congress.
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