Kolkata: As the Congress nationally is getting enthused over the Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 by their leader Rahul Gandhi, in West Bengal the enthusiasm is yet to pick up. There is no clear roadmap of how the Congress in West Bengal will participate in the mega event or which leaders of the allies of the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will be invited to participate in the event.
State Congress leaders like S Aich Roy feel that the state unit of the party is waiting for specific instructions from the party's high command. “The situation in West Bengal is tricky considering our arch-political rival in the state, the ruling Trinamool Congress, is also a part of the INDIA alliance. As regards the CPI(M)- led Left Front there is not much complication since we are already having an understanding with them at the state level. So we are waiting for instructions from our high command on whether we will be inviting leaders of other INDIA constituents to participate in the event,” said a senior Congress leader who did not wish to be named.
He admitted there is a high possibility that leaders from no other INDIA constituent from West Bengal might be invited to the event. “In the case of West Bengal we are having an understanding with the CPI(M)- led Left Front, which is the Congress’s principal opposition in Kerala. So in case, the Left Front leaders in West Bengal are invited to the event, our Kerala unit might be offended. So we have decided to leave the decision entirely to our high command,” he explained. In Tripura also, the Congress is having an understanding with the CPI(M)- led Left Front and in Tripura as well the party’s state unit will in all probability leave the decision to the central leadership. As for the Trinamool Congress leadership, it will not discuss the matter until they receive a formal invitation from the Congress. According to veteran party MLA Tapas Ray, any decision will be taken only after a formal invitation comes from the Congress and it will be taken only by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. “The party will act as per the directions of the chief minister,” he said.
The CPI(M) leadership in West Bengal too feels that giving the matter a thought before a formal invitation is counting the chickens before they are hatched. “The problem for us is the same as that of the Congress on this count in the perspective of Kerala, where the principal opponent for the Left Front is the Congress. So whatever needs to be done will be a collective decision,” said a state committee member of the party on condition of anonymity.
Political observers also feel that the question of inviting INDIA alliance partners is relevant in states where the relationship of the country’s oldest national party with the regional parties is extremely smooth.“This question is relevant in a state like Bihar, where at the state- level the Congress is having a smooth understanding with the two foremost regional parties there, namely the RHP and the JD(U). But in West Bengal, the entire concept of the INDIA alliance is confusing because of the state-level compulsions among all the INDIA allies. The Trinamool Congress, on the one hand, is accusing the Congress and the CPI(M) of having a clandestine understanding with the BJP. Both the Congress and the CPI(M) are accusing the Trinamool Congress of secretly going with the BJP. So when the basic alliance itself is in such a confused stage, the question of the alliance partners participating in Bharat Jodo 2.0 becomes irrelevant,” said a city-based political observer. (IANS)
