Friction in I.N.D.I.A.? Price rise, Manipur, not Adani key issues for TMC in Parliament

The Trinamool’s ‘ekla chalo’ stand comes against the backdrop of Congress’ electoral debacle in Haryana and Maharashtra in the past two months and with some of its leaders insisting that their party chief Mamata Banerjee be made the head of the Opposition bloc.

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress appears to be keeping a distance from the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in Parliament, as it skipped a meeting of its floor leaders and announced its own “key agenda” that excludes the Adani issue while highlighting price rise, unemployment, and Manipur among others.

While there was no mention of I.N.D.I.A. bloc, Trinamool Congress leaders said the key issues of focus during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament were finalised at a meeting of the party’s Working Committee in Kolkata on Monday.

Leaders said the Working Committee has “clearly outlined” the key issues for the Winter Session and they were price rise, inflation, unemployment, deprivation of central funds for West Bengal, fertilisers issue and violence in Manipur and north-east.

The Trinamool’s ‘ekla chalo’ stand comes against the backdrop of Congress’s electoral debacle in Haryana and Maharashtra in the past two months and with some of its leaders insisting that their party chief Mamata Banerjee be made the head of the Opposition bloc.

On Monday, Trinamool leaders had skipped the meeting of floor leaders of I.N.D.I.A. parties where there was unanimity over strongly raising the issue of Adani Group following the indictment of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani.

However, sources said, the bloc would not solely focus on this issue and would raise violence in Manipur, police action in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, and other issues. Also, the Opposition is also not keen on disrupting the entire session.

Samajwadi Party is particularly keen on raising the Sambhal issue. Congress is also planning to send a delegation of MPs to the violence-hit locality besides contemplating a visit by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

Sources said the consensus in the Opposition ranks is that they should make the government accountable for its omissions and commissions on a variety of issues, including Manipur, by participating in the proceedings and should not disrupt the entire session.

They do not want just one issue to dominate the session as parties should get space and time to raise their issues, sources said. Along with the Adani issue, sources said Manipur and violence in Sambhal would dominate the Opposition agenda.