Ahead of the proposed February 1 Opposition meeting at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence, the Trianmool Congress has spelt out a set of criteria for leading the opposition block for 2019 polls – which narrows down the list to Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik.
The TMC’s remark has been widely seen as the party rejecting Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition face for the much crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
TMC leader Derek O'Brien on Tuesday said, “It is only natural that a person with impeccable credentials can play lead role in 2019. S/he has to be the undisputed leader, the supremo of the party, need to have been CM, need to be currently running a state, should have been in the Union cabinet, and should have been a Member of Parliament for one or two decades,” as quoted by The Indian Express.
Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi has neither been a CM nor a union minister. He has been an MP only for the third term, and not for two decades. The other contender in the Opposition block, NCP leader Sharad Pawar is not a CM currently. Interestingly, TMC had skipped the opposition meeting hosted by Pawar on Monday.
The only leaders fitting into the TMC’s criteria are Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik. Both Mamata and the BJD leader are currently running their respective states and had served as union ministers. But, Patnaik is not a regular at opposition meetings. Hence, TMC may want to zero in on Mamata.
In the last Parliament session, O'Brien had said that Mamata has the best credentials as she is experienced, credible, and has integrity, according to this report by the newspaper, DNA.