mamata: Turf war? Mamata Banerjee calls Presidential poll meet, raises eyebrows | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: In a move parallel to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s initiative to rally opposition parties for putting up a joint candidate in the presidential polls, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday wrote to 22 politicians of non-BJP outfits for unity in the contest for Rashtrapati Bhavan, laying bare once again the fissures and the tendency for one-upmanship within the anti-Modi camp.
Though Banerjee’s letter seeking a “fruitful confluence of opposition voices” in New Delhi on June 15 called for a “strong and effective opposition against the divisive forces” and asked opposition CMs and leaders to participate in a “joint meeting” in the national capital, the missive left Congress and others in anti-BJP camp surprised and triggered an almost immediate pushback from CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
Describing the letter-writing to stitch together opposition unity as a “unilateral” move that would “harm opposition unity”, Yechury said June 15 has already been decided as the day when senior leaders of opposition parties, including Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, will meet and discuss the opposition strategy regarding the presidential polls.
“Normally, these meetings are decided after consultations and fixed on a mutually convenient date. Usually, the single-largest party takes the initiative. These consultations for a meeting were already going on when the letter was unilaterally sent and publicised,” Yechury said.
Opposition activity to identify a presidential candidate with “secular and progressive” credentials kicked off soon after the Election Commission sounded the poll bugle on Thursday, when Sonia dialled Yechury, Pawar, Banerjee and DMK chief Stalin. She also deputed Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge to make an outreach to like-minded parties as well as fence-sitters BJD, YSRCP and TRS to gather whether they would side with the NDA or the opposition bloc in the presidential polls.
Some in the opposition camp argued that Mamata’s move may not be seen as a case of “brinksmanship”. A senior leader signalled that without BJD, YSRCP and TRS on the opposition side, a presidential contest would only be symbolic since the NDA would comfortably garner the numbers it need to elect its nominee.
“There is no question of ego. There is a job to be done and that is to set up a badly needed opposition platform and to identify a strong candidate,” a senior leader said.
However, he acknowledged that cementing opposition’s ranks to prevent BJP from getting one of its own elected as the next President is not going to be easy. While Mamata’s move has raised a few hackles, many in the opposition also underline Congress’s inability to secure the support of regional satraps like Naveen Patnaik and K Chandrashekhar Rao, CMs of Odisha and Telangana, respectively.
“Congress must learn to cede space and accommodate a non-Congress candidate as the opposition’s presidential nominee”, said an opposition leader.
In response to Mamata’s letter, Congress said Sonia Gandhi initiated the discussions on the presidential election, forgetting all political differences, as the demand of the times is to find a candidate who, as President, can protect the Constitution. “The time is ripe for rising above our differences for the sake of the nation and its people,” the AICC said.