KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress is likely to skip the meeting of opposition parties convened by the Congress on Monday for a joint strategy during the parliament session, party sources said on Saturday although the final decision would be taken by party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
The decision to boycott the meeting comes at a time when the Trinamool is poaching Congress legislators in Tripura, Meghalaya and Goa and portraying itself as the main party confronting the Bharatiya Janata Party. “The thumping victory in the recent Assembly elections proved that the Trinamool is the main political party that decimated the BJP in Bengal despite the saffron camp’s aggressive campaign,” a senior party leader said.
“We are now busy spreading our footprint in national politics and building an image as the only anti-BJP political party. But the Congress is trying to portray itself as the main face of anti-BJP forces by convening the meeting, which we do not agree with.”
In October, Banerjee had said the Congress miserably failed to put up a fight against the BJP and the people put the onus on the TMC to create a ‘‘new India’’ by ousting the ‘‘fascist’’ saffron camp. “Instead of trying to uniting opposition forces, the Congress should first coordinate among themselves and set its own house in order. Why should we respond to the Congress call to participate in the opposition parties’ meeting? It is the Trinamool which should convene such a meeting,” the TMC leader said.
“The Trinamool is not interested in coordinating with the Congress but the party has no problem in coordinating with other opposition parties,” another leader said. “In such a situation, the Trinamool will lead the alliance. The recent defections from the Congress to our party show we are the main opposition against the BJP.”