New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) Members of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress may appear to be largely ploughing a lonely furrow with an occasional voice raised in unison with other Opposition leaders, but it is all about a directive from above to assert an independent identity, especially ahead of the West Bengal Assembly election expected to he held next year.

It wants to be seen as a driver of Opposition politics, but on its own terms, especially when it comes to Congress-led demonstrations.

Though it is part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, where the acronym INDIA — as claimed by party leaders — was coined by Mamata Banerjee, she has chosen to go solo in all matters related to West Bengal.

On the first day of the current session, before Parliament convened, opposition parties stood outside the Makar Dwar entrance protesting the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list.

The Gandhis, along with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, were prominently positioned in the middle of the assembled leaders.

Nationally-recognised Trinamool Congress faces were conspicuous by their absence that day, though it was represented by Bapi Haldar and Mamata Thakur.

Thakur’s inclusion lies in her identity as a Matua, where community members have been facing religious persecution in Bangladesh since Independence.

Many in her community are wary of being disenfranchised through SIR.

However, the absence of known Trinamool faces, despite the fact that they are vehemently opposing SIR in West Bengal, was conspicuous.

They were part of a delegation that met the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar earlier; Mamata Banerjee, too, has written to the poll body — all to persuade it to stop the process, alleging deaths by suicide and fatigue driven by the SIR.

In Parliament, the Trinamool Congress is focused on highlighting state-specific issues such as pending Central funds, price rise, among other, signalling its preference for independent positioning within the INDIA bloc.

The party, thus, preferred to raise issues in the current session pertaining to West Bengal where almost all MPs were present, barring Leader of Trinamool Congress in Lok Sabha Abhishek Banerjee, who is expected to join the current session next week onwards.

Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee replaced veteran MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay due to the latter’s health condition.

Abhishek Banerjee is said to have introduced an aggressive, independent style in protests by party MPs.

In a calculated strategy, by skipping certain Congress-led demonstrations, Trinamool underscores its independence and avoids being overshadowed by Congress within the Opposition bloc, apparently appealing to its voters in West Bengal.

The party has previously skipped demonstrations led by the Congress demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into alleged corporate irregularities.

Trinamool Congress sought to rather highlight issues like unemployment and price rise, and has found support in the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav.

Now, with state elections approaching in 2026, the Trinamool Congress is prioritising its interests and sharpening its attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to consolidate its base in the state rather than exhibiting alliance with pan-India protest formats.

It wants to be seen as a driver of opposition politics, but on its own terms, especially with state polls looming.

There is also a clear signal to INDIA bloc allies, especially the Congress, that in either Lok Sabha or Assembly polls, it will not agree to an alliance.

The past is past, when it won the 2011 Assembly election for the first time in West Bengal in alliance with the Congress.

Mamata Banerjee has also raised the issue of Congress allegedly not accommodating the Trinamool Congress in either Tripura or Assam polls.

As a state Opposition leader quipped, the Trinamool’s “Ekla Chalo Re” (tread the path alone) is not a result of its leader’s love for Rabindra Sangeet (songs of Rabindranath Tagore), but a grand posturing for the hustings.

–IANS

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