OPPOSITION ALLIANCE CRASH LANDS IN BENGAL POST NATIONAL LAUNCH

Ground realities make the idea a non-starter, say state leaders.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

At a time when the leaders of 26 Opposition parties showed grace and bonhomie during their meeting in Bengaluru to stitch together the I.N.D.I.A. combine, the on-ground realities point to the impracticality of the arrangement.

The host of the Bengaluru meeting—the Congress— went all out to give a pride of place to Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress chief, who is seen as one of the most important components of the anti-BJP front.

On Friday, Mamata Banerjee’s statement at her party’s annual Shaheed Dibas was being watched keenly by political observers across the country. Banerjee herself took pains to proclaim: “We do not care about power or post, we care about peace for our nation,” even as she launched an all-out attack on the BJPled government at the Centre. She accused the Centre of trying to divide the nation as well as West Bengal.

“The BJP wants to break Bengal. They want to create fissures among Rajbongshis and Kamatapuris, between Hindus and Muslims, between north Bengal and south Bengal. If the BJP government returns to power in 2024, there will be no democracy in our country. The BJP wants to sell our country; I.N.D.I.A. wants to save our country.”