Express News Service
NEW DELHI: TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee held meetings with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the capital ahead of the Mumbai conclave of the INDIA bloc, sources said. The meeting assumes significance as it is seen as an attempt to diffuse the rising tension between Congress and AAP, both important players in the Opposition bloc.
As the third meeting of the Opposition parties in Mumbai is expected to chart out a roadmap for 2024 election, the friction between both AAP and Congress is seen as a big challenge for the unity ahead, said a senior leader.
Trinamool sources told this paper that TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met both Kejriwal and Rahul as part of TMC’s continuous effort to bring a truce between the two parties. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had played a key role in bringing the warring parties together after the first meeting of INDIA bloc in Patna in June this year.
AAP had threatened to boycott the Patna meeting if Congress does not support it on the Delhi ordinance issue. It was after the intervention of the TMC chief that both parties reached a consensus. “Mamata’s role in the bloc has become more important after the political crisis in Maharashtra. Whether it is the trust factor or negotiating power or good will, Mamata’s role now assumes importance. The stand of Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar are very confusing for many people now,” said the leader.
Though both the parties seemed to have struck truce after the Congress supported AAP in Parliament on opposing the Delhi Services Bill, fissures have emerged recently over alliances in Delhi and Punjab where both the parties are in contest with each other. They were engaged in a war of words over AAP’s entry into Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where Congress is a main player. However, opposition leaders maintain that differences will be sorted out.
NEW DELHI: TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee held meetings with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the capital ahead of the Mumbai conclave of the INDIA bloc, sources said. The meeting assumes significance as it is seen as an attempt to diffuse the rising tension between Congress and AAP, both important players in the Opposition bloc.
As the third meeting of the Opposition parties in Mumbai is expected to chart out a roadmap for 2024 election, the friction between both AAP and Congress is seen as a big challenge for the unity ahead, said a senior leader.
Trinamool sources told this paper that TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met both Kejriwal and Rahul as part of TMC’s continuous effort to bring a truce between the two parties. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had played a key role in bringing the warring parties together after the first meeting of INDIA bloc in Patna in June this year.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
AAP had threatened to boycott the Patna meeting if Congress does not support it on the Delhi ordinance issue. It was after the intervention of the TMC chief that both parties reached a consensus. “Mamata’s role in the bloc has become more important after the political crisis in Maharashtra. Whether it is the trust factor or negotiating power or good will, Mamata’s role now assumes importance. The stand of Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar are very confusing for many people now,” said the leader.
Though both the parties seemed to have struck truce after the Congress supported AAP in Parliament on opposing the Delhi Services Bill, fissures have emerged recently over alliances in Delhi and Punjab where both the parties are in contest with each other. They were engaged in a war of words over AAP’s entry into Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where Congress is a main player. However, opposition leaders maintain that differences will be sorted out.
