DMK absent, allies restive, INDIA bloc braces for a difficult conversation at tomorrow’s meeting

When the Opposition INDIA bloc meets in Delhi on Monday, it will be under entirely different circumstances compared to the alliance’s last meeting on April 15, when it devised its Parliament floor strategy on Bills related to delimitation and women’s reservation.

The Opposition stands weakened following the recent Assembly elections and the equations have also undergone a shift. This time at the meeting, there will be no DMK, which is angry with the Congress over its decision to snap ties following the Tamil Nadu elections, while the once-distant Trinamool Congress (TMC) is looking to play a more proactive role, having lost power in West Bengal and facing the threat of an organisational collapse.

Leaders in the bloc said Monday’s meeting was likely to see some fireworks as discontent among some of the members has been simmering. The CPI(M) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have conveyed their displeasure to the Congress leadership about its style of functioning. While the JMM is upset with the Congress for “unilaterally” announcing a candidate for one of the two Rajya Sabha seats bound for elections from Jharkhand this month, the CPI(M) has conveyed its strong displeasure over attacks on former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, during the recent Kerala Assembly election campaign.

“There is palpable anger against this government on the ground, but the Opposition is not being able to channel it for elections. That has to be discussed and a roadmap should be drawn out by the bloc at tomorrow’s meeting. If the Congress wants to lead the alliance, it has to take everyone along. Its leaders can’t go around town saying that only the Congress can defeat the BJP. Then, why do we have this alliance? Where is the Congress in UP, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal? The DMK being snubbed to get a couple of ministers was a bad move for the alliance and all parties will be naturally wary of the Congress,” said a senior Samajwadi Party leader.

A Left leader said the country faces so many issues and the Opposition parties need to have better coordination. “Who is responsible for the coordination? If the Congress is leading the alliance, then it has to play the role of the leader of the bloc and not do petty politics,” said the leader.

Other issues likely to be taken up at Monday’s meeting will be the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the delimitation Bill, the One Nation, One Election Bill, and examination paper leaks and issues concerning the education system, said sources. After the government failed to push through the delimitation Bill in April, it is likely to attempt to revive it and also bring in the draft law on simultaneous elections.

For the Opposition alliance, the DMK’s absence will be a major one. With the Congress joining the Joseph Vijay-led TVK in government in Tamil Nadu, the DMK is unwilling to share space with its former ally. This has led to questions about the role of the M K Stalin-led party in the alliance going forward. Some non-Congress INDIA bloc leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, are learnt to have reached out to DMK leaders, but to no avail. The TVK will not join the meeting as the meeting is for only those parties that have representation in Parliament, said a Congress leader.

The meeting at the Constitution Club, which is scheduled to begin at 12 pm, will also likely see both Mamata Banerjee and her second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee play the role of pacifiers. The Banerjees themselves are facing a rebellion from a large section of MLAs and possibly MPs who are unhappy with Abhishek. They have landed in Delhi to ostensibly attend the alliance meeting but are learnt to be trying to stave off attempts to break the TMC parliamentary party. Since the defeat in Bengal, the TMC has been more conciliatory about the INDIA alliance and will require its support if it has to push back against the BJP.

“Meeting with a common purpose and clear intent. INDIA united. Many parties look forward to meeting in the spirit of camaraderie,” TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien posted on X in response to Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh’s post announcing that 23 parties would be in attendance.

“There are some parties who have expressed their inability to attend this particular meeting for their own reasons – even though they have conveyed their strong opposition to the Modi government’s policies and actions that are snatching away the right to vote for millions of Indians, assaulting the Constitution daily, attacking Opposition leaders through investigative agencies, seriously damaging the livelihoods of crores of Indians, breaking household budgets through relentless price rise, betraying the hopes and aspirations of lakhs of youth, dampening investment climate, and compromising the national interest by its foreign policy,” said Ramesh.

Apart from the Banerjees, the leaders scheduled to attend the meeting are Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav or Manoj Jha from the RJD, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, CPI general secretary D Raja, CPI-ML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, IUML’s P K Kunhalikutty, Kerala Congress leader Jose K Mani, RSP chief N K Premachandran, NCP MP Supriya Sule, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, and MDMK leader Vaiko. While Jammu and Kashmir CM and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah is also likely to attend the meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will be present virtually.