Speaker fight: TMC keeps INDIA on edge, says ‘not consulted’, ‘could have given names’
Claiming had not been “consulted”, the Trinamool Congress Tuesday kept the Congress on the tenterhooks over supporting the INDIA candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post. The Congress, however, claimed it had placed a call to the TMC before announcing that its MP Kodikunil Suresh would take on the BJP’s Om Birla for the Speaker’s post.
The election for the next Lok Sabha Speaker is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, with INDIA fielding Suresh after the NDA renominated Birla, who was the Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha. The Congress had earlier pushed for Suresh to be named pro-term Speaker, as he was the senior-most member in the Lok Sabha.
After Suresh filed his nomination for the Speaker’s post around noon, TMC leaders suggested that the party had not been consulted before the Congress arrived at the decision and made the announcement – thus putting a question mark on whether the TMC would vote for Suresh on Wednesday as part of the INDIA bloc.
Taking a dig at senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, a senior TMC leader said: “We won 29 seats on our own in West Bengal… we were not a part of the INDIA alliance then. So Rahul Gandhi shouldn’t have made a khata khat announcement, without consulting us. We are not here to toe the line after you have made a decision.”
The TMC is reportedly not in favour of contesting the Speaker’s post, as it believes it will underline the Opposition’s inadequate numbers and expose chinks in the INDIA armour.
Incidentally, it’s not just INDIA that is hoping to get the TMC’s support. The NDA, too, is learnt to have reached out to Mamata. Sources said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called Mamata on Tuesday afternoon and discussed the issue with her. “The two spoke about the issue of the Speaker and about the Opposition fielding a candidate against the BJP's nominee,” a TMC leader said.
On Congress claims that a call had been made to the TMC leadership before the announcement, the leader said the call came around 11.50 am. “It is too short a notice. If you wish to invite me for your daughter’s wedding, you can’t be calling me on the morning of the wedding to come for dinner,” the leader said.
TMC leaders in West Bengal slammed the “unilateral decision” by the Congress and said party chief Mamata Banerjee was “upset”. Sources close to the CM said she was taken by “surprise”, and that she had expected the Opposition parties to discuss “suitable names”.
Other alliance partners could have come up with candidates too, and on the basis of the discussions, a name should have been finalised, a party leader said.
However, the door to a reconciliation may not be closed. TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee held a meeting of all party parliamentarians at Parliament House in the afternoon, and sources said the Speaker issue was discussed there. A final decision would be taken after due consultation with Mamata, sources suggested.
Rahul also reached out to Abhishek inside the Lok Sabha, when the TMC MPs arrived to take oath. After inviting Abhishek to his seat, Rahul was engaged in a chat with him lasting 15 minutes, where he was seen animatedly explaining something to Abhishek, who appeared to nod in return without saying much.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal joined them briefly, while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav intercepted to have a word with Abhishek as he left for his desk.
Sources said Abhishek later briefed Mamata about the meetings he had with TMC MPs and the discussion he had with Rahul in the Lok Sabha.
In case the TMC decides to vote with the NDA on the Speaker’s issue or abstain from voting, INDIA’s strength would whittle down to 207 MPs. The NDA has 293 MPs, in comparison, including the BJP’s 240, in the Lok Sabha, while INDIA (counting the TMC) has 231 seats, along with support of the Bharat Adivasi Party, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and three Independents.
Apart from this, there are 13 Independents or non-aligned parties. On Tuesday, the YSRCP, which faced a drubbing in the recent simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, said it would vote with the BJP on the matter of the Speaker’s post.
It’s not the first time INDIA is feeling the heat over a “miffed” TMC. The Mamata-led party had earlier abstained from voting for the Vice-President’s election, claiming it was not consulted over the INDIA choice. During the Lok Sabha elections, the party had announced it would contest alone, accusing INDIA partners Left and Congress of taking too long over seat distribution.
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