Cong softening towards AAP, but ties with TMC turn knotty

The Opposition, specially the Congress, is watching the developments in the NDA camp very closely as the BJP looks to find new alliances. The Congress, which hosts the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru next week, will ensure that its old friends and new potential allies remain together.

There are two important developments to substantiate this.

One, after a Parliament strategy meeting presided by Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “We will confront the government on many issues. One of them is their attempt to destroy the federal structure.”

This is the closest the Congress has come to while taking a stand on whether it will support the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the ordinance issue.

According to sources, the topic was discussed at length at the meeting, but no clear stand was taken. While a few leaders felt that it was important to listen to the state units of Punjab and Delhi, who were against the idea of any support to AAP, others felt the ‘Opposition Unity’ was much bigger, therefore, it was alright to compromise for the sake of the fight to finish the BJP in 2024.

Meanwhile, AAP sources told News18 that the party would want to see what the Congress has to say at the Bengaluru meet. AAP had raised the ordinance issue during the Patna meeting on June 23, and, in fact, did not attend the joint press conference in protest.

The second development is that the relations between Trinamool Congress and Congress’ are turning sour in the aftermath of the recently concluded West Bengal Panchayat Elections in which a few Congress workers were attacked in Murshidabad. State party president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slammed chief minister Mamata Bannerjee, and told media that she is not “invincible”. “We will fight her and defeat her in Bengal.”

But in a clear olive branch to the Congress, for the sake of Opposition Unity, a senior TMC leader told News18 that “Panchayat polls is a thing of the past. Time to move on and fight the BJP together”.

Sonia Gandhi had been the glue, which brought the dissenting parties together in 2004 to stitch a winning front called the UPA. As the BJP alliance outreach gathers steam, the Opposition is falling on Sonia Gandhi’s magic to gear up for the 2024 battle.