Why are Mamta and Akhilesh stopping Congress from becoming the BIGG BOSS of the opposition?

Recently, Akhilesh had met Mamta in Kolkata. After which the headlines of the Third Front had caught hold. Many parties are uniting for the third front in the upcoming elections.

India

author-Ashok Kumar Sharma

Updated: Saturday, March 18, 2023, 17:51 [IST]

Mamta Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav do not accept that Congress should become the Big Boss of the opposition. That’s why both are engaged in the campaign to displace the Congress from the central politics of the opposition. Akhilesh Yadav has talked about maintaining equal distance from BJP and Congress. He is seen standing with Mamta Banerjee in the fight with BJP. He has said that since Didi easily stopped the BJP in West Bengal, he will be with her in the 2024 elections. Does Akhilesh Yadav’s statement mean that Mamata Banerjee will become the prime ministerial face of the opposition in 2024?

SP-Trinamool’s distance from Congress increased

In the second part of the budget session of Parliament, the distance between the Congress and other opposition parties seems to be increasing. UPA’s allies are not supporting the Congress on the question of encircling the BJP. On Friday, the Congress staged a sit-in in the Parliament premises to demand a JPC on the Adani issue. Many big leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi participated in it. But SP and Trinamool distanced themselves from this dharna. Opposition parties are shying away from defending Rahul Gandhi on the London episode. The current war of words in the Parliament session has turned into a nose-to-nose fight between the BJP and the Congress. If Rahul Gandhi gets an edge, he can become the hero of the opposition. That’s why SP did not join the strike of Trinamool Congress. In this fight between Congress and BJP, parties like Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress and Telugu Desam have also kept silence.

Akhilesh Yadav rejected Congress
Akhilesh Yadav, who was an ally of the Congress, has now turned his back. The outline of a new political equation has started forming from the meeting of the National Executive of SP held in Kolkata. After coming to Kolkata, Akhilesh rejected the Congress. What he has said means that now Congress has no existence in Uttar Pradesh. When he was asked in Kolkata, is opposition unity possible without the Congress? Then he replied, you will see that most of the same MPs (2024) will be elected who are neither with BJP nor with Congress. What he means is that the Congress will have no importance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In Kolkata, Akhilesh Yadav went to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s house and met her. After this, it is believed that the process of formation of third front without Congress has started.

Mamta’s Congress opposition increased after losing the by-election
What problem does Mamta Banerjee have with the Congress? The answer to this question can be found in the result of the Sagardighi assembly by-election in West Bengal. It’s the beginning of this month. The Congress created a stir in the politics of West Bengal. The Congress, which was considered dead in West Bengal, has done a miracle in this by-election. This seat belonged to Trinamool Congress but Congress snatched it from him. Congress candidate Byron Vishwas defeated Devashish Banerjee by around 22 thousand votes. The BJP stood third in this by-election. The seat fell vacant after the demise of Subrata Saha, a minister in the state government. The superpower image of Mamata Banerjee has been shattered by Trinamool’s defeat on this seat. Losing a ministerial seat is a matter of concern for him. Mamta Banerjee is afraid that if the Congress becomes strong at the center level, then she will have to face trouble in West Bengal. That’s why they want to oust the Congress from the central role of the opposition.

Can a third front be formed? Akhilesh Yadav will meet Mamta Banerjee, wants to bring 8 opposition parties together

Mamta-Akhilesh have similar compulsion
Same problem with Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. They also do not want to see Congress getting stronger. If there is a change of power in the upcoming elections and a Congress leader becomes the Prime Minister, then this situation will not be favorable for Akhilesh Yadav as well. This will strengthen the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, due to which they will have to bear political loss. Therefore, to avoid this possibility, the SP wants to realize the vision of a third front separate from the Congress. In fact, most of the regional parties consider BJP as well as Congress as a challenge for themselves. That’s why they don’t seem to agree to make Rahul Gandhi the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition.

… Then how to go with Congress?
No matter how weak the Congress is, it is still the largest party in the opposition. Despite this fact, many leaders of the opposition are harboring the ambition of becoming the PM face. Only one imaginary casserole is cooking in everyone’s mind. If there is a hung parliament and the question of the selection of a universal leader comes up, then maybe his luck will open. As happened with HD Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral. No one had imagined in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections that these two would become the Prime Minister. But the circumstances became such that their fate changed. Names of Mamta Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar and Chandrashekhar Rao can be taken among such ambitious leaders. Although none of these leaders directly consider themselves as the PM face, but the events around them point towards these things. When so many leaders have the hidden ambition of becoming PM, then how can Congress become the leader of the opposition.