Mamata Banerjee’s swearing-in raises hope of non-BJP, non-Congress front
2 min read 27 May 2016, 01:23 PM ISTThe impact of the anti-BJP and anti-Congress alliance will be visible inside Parliament as the TMC along with SP, RJD and JD(U) account for 41 MPs in Rajya Sabha
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New Delhi: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s second consecutive oath ceremony on Friday raised hopes of a possible non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance across the country, which would play a decisive role not just in regional politics but a crucial role in the floor management in Parliament.
Among the regional political biggies present at the swearing-in ceremony of Banerjee were National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The impact of the anti-BJP and anti-Congress alliance will be visible inside Parliament as the Trinamool Congress along with Samajwadi Party (SP), RJD and JD(U) account for 41 members of Parliament (MPs) in Rajya Sabha, making it impossible for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to ignore the strong presence of the collective regional force.
In an interview on the Trinamool Congress’s official website, Banerjee said, “There is no difference between the three parties. Their only goal was to try and defeat Mamata Banerjee and stop development in Bengal. We are ideologically opposed to the BJP. So there is no chance of supporting them. The CPI(M), the Congress and the BJP have an understanding. They are afraid of us. We will play an important role in national politics in the future. The people are with us."
Banerjee took oath as chief minister for the second time along with 41 ministers. All districts have been represented, said the chief minister, while addressing the media at Raj Bhavan before her swearing in. She added that Malda had no representation as the party did not have an MLA in the district.
Interestingly, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was also among the political guests present at the event.
Although the BJP’s state unit boycotted the event, finance minister Arun Jaitley and Union minister Babul Supriyo represented the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the ceremony.
The Congress party, which is now the main opposition party in the state after a gap of two decades, also boycotted the event along with the Left parties. The Left and the Congress boycotted because of the post poll violence in the state.
In the recently concluded assembly polls in West Bengal, Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress won 211 seats out of the 294 seats, while Congress won 44 and Left parties together won 32 seats in the state assembly. The BJP bettered its performance winning 3 seats, while another constituent of NDA, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), won three seats.
