KOLKATA: In her bid to find relevance in national politics, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has intensified her efforts to garner support for her party’s no-confidence motion against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Apart from speaking to Sushma Swaraj, leader of the opposition in the lower house of parliament, she has also spoken to Gurudas Dasgupta of the Communist Party of India in order to get support. Sources in TMC told Gulf News that Banerjee is also in constant touch with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and leaders of other regional parties.
“Mulayam is very keen for early election as exhibited by him when he declared the first list of candidates for the general elections. He will of course want us to support him when he bids for the prime ministerial position which has been his long term political dream. but that is another number game that can only be decided after the results were declared,” said a TMC member of parliament unwilling to be named.
As per parliamentary rules, for a no-confidence motion to be brought in, it has to be supported by at least 50 members of the lower house and TMC has only 19. “It is quite ridiculous of TMC to try to bring in a no-confidence motion when they have only 19 members and the opposition itself is so fractured. We were initially thinking of bring a confidence motion to tell the country that the government is in majority, but now there is no need for it,” said Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh over the telephone.
However, for the TMC the fight is not about winning but standing by the ideological position that the party has taken against FDI in retail trade. “There is no wrong in trying to garner support from other political parties, since here we are fighting an ideological battle here we will try our best,” said TMC general secretary Mukul Roy.
“Very soon it will be clear to the people of this country which party had been opposing the FDI in retail and who are the ones who are giving lip service and is actually supporting the government indirectly in its reforms,” added Roy.
Political observers believe that Banerjee apart from trying to keep political relevance at the centre is also trying to justify to the people of Bengal her commitment to the cause and her political will do stand by it.
“In inviting the Communist to support her no-confidence motion she has actually put the Left in the bind where she can now go back to the people and say that the Left was actually supporting the government in the reforms move and all the opposition is actually a hog wash,” said professor of political science Sujit Sen. “It is a clever political move but whether it will garner her real results is to be seen,” added Sen.
Apart from speaking to Sushma Swaraj, leader of the opposition in the lower house of parliament, she has also spoken to Gurudas Dasgupta of the Communist Party of India in order to get support. Sources in TMC told Gulf News that Banerjee is also in constant touch with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and leaders of other regional parties.
“Mulayam is very keen for early election as exhibited by him when he declared the first list of candidates for the general elections. He will of course want us to support him when he bids for the prime ministerial position which has been his long term political dream. but that is another number game that can only be decided after the results were declared,” said a TMC member of parliament unwilling to be named.
As per parliamentary rules, for a no-confidence motion to be brought in, it has to be supported by at least 50 members of the lower house and TMC has only 19. “It is quite ridiculous of TMC to try to bring in a no-confidence motion when they have only 19 members and the opposition itself is so fractured. We were initially thinking of bring a confidence motion to tell the country that the government is in majority, but now there is no need for it,” said Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh over the telephone.
However, for the TMC the fight is not about winning but standing by the ideological position that the party has taken against FDI in retail trade. “There is no wrong in trying to garner support from other political parties, since here we are fighting an ideological battle here we will try our best,” said TMC general secretary Mukul Roy.
“Very soon it will be clear to the people of this country which party had been opposing the FDI in retail and who are the ones who are giving lip service and is actually supporting the government indirectly in its reforms,” added Roy.
Political observers believe that Banerjee apart from trying to keep political relevance at the centre is also trying to justify to the people of Bengal her commitment to the cause and her political will do stand by it.
“In inviting the Communist to support her no-confidence motion she has actually put the Left in the bind where she can now go back to the people and say that the Left was actually supporting the government in the reforms move and all the opposition is actually a hog wash,” said professor of political science Sujit Sen. “It is a clever political move but whether it will garner her real results is to be seen,” added Sen.
