Margaret Alva, the 17-party Opposition candidate for Vice-President, on Friday said the Trinamul Congress’s decision to abstain from the August 6 election was “disappointing”.
This is not the time for “‘whataboutery’, ego or anger”, Alva added and appealed to Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to stand with the Opposition.
The 80-year-old Congress veteran issued a statement on Twitter in the afternoon, urging reconsideration by Trinamul.
“The TMC’s decision to abstain from voting in the VP election is disappointing. This isn't the time for ‘whataboutery’, ego or anger. This is the time for courage, leadership & unity,” said the former Union minister who was governor in four states.
“I believe, @MamataOfficial, who is the epitome of courage, will stand with the opposition,” she added in her post.
Trinamul state general secretary Kunal Ghosh later said: “The party has utmost respect for Margaret Alva and her work. We have a problem with the mechanism through which Alva’s name was selected. We do not have any objection towards the candidate but for the process of selecting the candidate.”
On Friday, Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, too, called for Opposition unity.
“We want the Opposition to work in unity. We will try to find the reason behind this sudden decision by the Trinamul Congress,” the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha, said it appeared that Mamata did not want “enmity with the BJP”.
“Everyone is aware of the kind of troubled relationship (NDA vice-presidential candidate) Jagdeep Dhankhar had, as Bengal governor, with the chief minister. Then, there was that meeting in Darjeeling,” Chowdhury said, referring to a July 13 meeting between Mamata, Dhankhar and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at the Darjeeling Raj Bhavan.
“Her party did not participate in the all-party meeting (at Sharad Pawar’s residence on July 16). When the (17) parties signed the joint statement (picking Alva), Trinamul was absent. This can only mean that she does not want enmity with the BJP,” he added.
On Thursday, Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek had attributed the party’s decision to “the way” in which Alva’s name had been decided.
“Trinamul feels the decision was not democratic…. More so, given how we -– despite having a total strength of 35 members in both Houses of Parliament – were not consulted before the announcement,” he had said.
