Unity buzz: Ahmed Patel, Mamata Banerjee meet

New Delhi: The Opposition parties, including the Congress, seem to have veered around to Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s “one-on-one” formula in states to take  on the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2019 general election. Top political sources said there is a broad understanding within all the parties that the best way to deal with the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah juggernaut was to allow the strongest Opposition party — whether regional or national — take on the BJP at the state level.

So in Tamil Nadu it can be the DMK, in Uttar Pradesh it can be the SP-BSP combine, in West Bengal it can be the Trinamul Congress while in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh it can be the Congress which will take the lead role in fighting against the BJP, the sources told this newspaper. All seat-sharing talks will have to fit into this formula and any national-level post-poll alliance can be worked out after the results are out — such as in 2004 with UPA-1.

On Sunday, senior Congress leader and the party’s chief troubleshooter Ahmed Patel met Ms Banerjee after the show of support for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (in his ongoing battle with the Centre) by four Opposition CMs, indicating that though his party didn’t take any stand on this issue, all was well within the Opposition’s ranks, and that the Congress remained interested in being a part of the Opposition coalition against the BJP.

Mr Patel, who came to meet Ms Banerjee with flowers and a big fruit basket, was warmly invited inside Banga Bhavan at Chanakyapuri by the West Bengal CM. Trinamul sources said Mr Patel’s visit indicated the interest of the Congress and Ms Banerjee’s importance in cobbling together a coalition of Opposition parties.

“Ahmed Patel meeting Ms Banerjee is significant as it is likely that he has been directed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to meet the chief minister. Ms Banerjee today is in a leading role of uniting all Opposition parties against the BJP. And the Congress obviously wants to be a part of it,” a TMC source said.

The meet took place in the backdrop of differences of opinion between the Congress and other Opposition parties on supporting the Delhi CM against the Centre and Delhi lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal.

While several regional parties, including the TMC, the Telugu Desam Party, the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Left extended support to the AAP leader, the Congress has crticised Ms Kejriwal for his “theatrics”.

The broad contours of the broad Opposition understanding were arrived at on the sidelines of the swearing-in of the JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka, where the “who’s who” of the Opposition leadership had gathered. Sources said the top Opposition leaders, including Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and former Uttar Pradesh CM and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav met and tried to fine-tune this strategy. The leaders also decided to hold at least one big joint Opposition event every month to keep showcasing Opposition unity.

Sources said the Congress, which fancies itself as the chief Opposition party against the BJP, has in principle accepted this in order to keep the “BJP out” and the climbdown in its stand was evident in the way it agreed to play second fiddle to the Janata Dal (S) in Karnataka.

The so-called “one-on-one” formula was first proposed by Ms Banerjee during a high-voltage visit to New Delhi in the second half of the Budget Session. Incidentally, Ms Banerjee had taken the lead in proposing a “federal front” against the incumbent BJP government, which was evident by her taking a tough stance on the standoff between Arvind Kejriwal and the Centre this weekend.

Congress sources said, however, that the party might strategically remain silent on certain matters like the Kejriwal fiasco.