New Delhi: In a sharp reaction to INDIA bloc parties backing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claim for Opposition leadership, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said that some “partners” in the alliance are trying to “save Adani”.

Since the US brought bribery allegations against Gautam Adani last month, the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress have maintained a distance from the Congress-led protests in Parliament against the alleged Bharatiya Janata Party-Adani nexus.

Other Congress MPs also came out, supporting Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the INDIA bloc. Congress’s MP from Saharanpur, Imran Masood, said, ”Is there any doubt that Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the INDIA bloc? His efforts only changed the fortune of the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha polls. He was the face of our campaign. Those who doubt his leadership ability, why do they remain silent against Ambani and Adani? Rahul Gandhi is the only leader who has the courage to challenge PM Modi.”

Masood added that the Congress will continue to raise its voice on the Adani issue. “Mostly regional parties are with us. Those who are not, need to understand the importance of the issue. Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress skipped the protests by saying they wanted local issues raised first,” he said.

Congress’s MP from Gurdaspur and ex-deputy CM of Punjab, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, defended his party’s decision to protest against Adani, saying, ”Farmers are suffering because the government is busy doing favours for industrialists, such as Adani. It is a national issue. Those not coming with us should understand the importance of the issue.”

Refusing to comment on INDIA bloc partners’ wish to make Mamata the prime leader, he said, ”Top leaders of all INDIA bloc parties can decide this. Our party is the largest opposition party. Obviously, we would want our leader to lead the alliance.”

Mamata finds more support amid rift in INDIA bloc

Amid a rift within the Opposition camp on who will lead it, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is the latest leader to back West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s leadership of the INDIA bloc.

On Tuesday, while talking to the media in Patna, he said, “We will support Mamata Banerjee. She should be allowed to head the INDIA bloc.”

Mamata Banerjee, on 6 December, expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of the INDIA bloc, signalling her intent to take charge of the alliance if given the opportunity.

“I had formed the INDIA bloc, now it is up to those leading the front to manage it. If they can’t run the show, what can I do? I would just say that everyone needs to be taken along,” the TMC supremo said in a TV interview, adding that she would not leave Bengal but take over from the state itself.

Since then, many non-Congress parties, such as the Samajwadi Party, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), have come out in her support. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) has also supported her pitch, indicating it is ready to embrace the INDIA bloc, provided the Congress takes a step back.

On 7 December, Samajwadi Party’s senior leader, Ram Gopal Yadav, sharing his views on the matter, said Rahul Gandhi is not the leader of the INDIA bloc, adding that the Congress’s below-par performance in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections might have made the TMC supremo seek the leadership role in the Opposition.

Joining the chorus on Monday, YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Sai Reddy wrote an X post on Monday, saying, “Mamta Banerjee is an ideal candidate to lead the INDIA alliance as she has the required political and electoral experience to head an alliance.”

The leadership crisis in the INDIA bloc comes when the Congress is in the back seat following the poll debacles in Maharashtra and Haryana.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)

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