The decision of the Gandhis to stay away from the 13-member coordination committee to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections does give an impression that the Congress does not want to act like the big brother. But, the smiles, photo ops, coordinated sound bytes do not always show the real picture.
The misses and omissions narrate a tale. Here’s how:
Logo
The logo was announced in the programme list released by both the Congress and Shiv Sena. But hours before it was to be released at 10.30 am, it was put on hold. Two senior leaders of the TMC and the Left said they were not informed that it will be released for sure.
“Nothing was finalised. The TMC had some reservations about the logo.” So did the Samajwadi Party and JD(U), which felt it needed to focus on leaders and parties with the idea of India.
Committees
This has led to much heartburn. A notable fact is that the TMC is yet to submit names for the sub-committees, which have been set up for planning, media and research. A top TMC leader said: “We expected Mamata Banerjee or Chidambaram to be part of the manifesto committees. But, many who have been put in the committee are lightweight and this brings down the gravitas.”
There is some reservation over some of the names in the media committee, which seems to be Congress heavy or lopsided. A senior leader said, “Only recently, a social media post of the Congress had to be removed as it prominently showed Rahul Gandhi. And then you have the same team looking after social media.”
The TMC had objections to the social media team having the lead from the Congress. As a course correction, DMK MP Dayanidi Maran has been added.
The other area of concern is also about the handling of the media. Sources said the exclusion of Pawan Khera was not being considered as the right move as he is the head of the media department. His name was added as a course correction along with Kanimozhi’s. This is also to add weight to the committee and placate Khera. And the name of DMK leader Tiruchi N Siva has been added to the campaign committee, so as to have a senior person on board.
Seat sharing
This has been the trickiest issue and one that has angered the Trinamool Congress, which along with the Aam Aadmi party, SP, RJD, and JD(U) insisted that a timeline should be added as to when the seat sharing should be finalised. While the Congress kept hedging, the TMC decided to skip the joint press conference.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee left for Kolkata while Derek O’Brien called in sick and stayed at the hotel in Mumbai. The objection came from some allies to the large number of passes issued in its name by the Congress and how some of its leaders as well as members got special proximity passes with access to the meeting while other allies had to cut down on their numbers. Another objection from some allies is to the fact as to why the resolution did not mention a specific date to announce the seat sharing.
All eyes are now on the next meeting of the opposition in Delhi, but the distrust shown towards the Congress and the accusation of high-handed behaviour against some of its leaders has the potential to cause trouble for the front.
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