Kolkata: Cracks have started to show in the much-hyped Opposition unity in relation to the Presidential elections as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to skip the next meeting over the issue convened by NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Trinamool Congress (TMC) sources said that her nephew and party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will attend the meeting which is scheduled to take place on June 21.
TMC insiders said that Mamata is miffed with the fact that there is no mention of the earlier meeting held by her at the Constitution Club in the invitation sent by the NCP. They further revealed that Mamata seems to be of the opinion that TMC's initiative to unite the Opposition ahead of the Presidential election has been ignored.
TMC sources said that Abhishek will join the meeting in Delhi after his visit to Tripura. This the first time Abhishek has been given such a crucial responsibility. Usually, senior leaders such as Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Sukhendushekhar Roy, and Derek O’Brien represent the TMC at the national level. Even senior TMC leader and national vice-president Yashwant Sinha has not been considered for the task, party sources said.
The development comes days after the TMC supremo mentioned the names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi besides Pawar as the Presidential candidate of the unified Opposition. However, Pawar and Abdullah have already declined to be the Presidential candidate.
