Why TRS, TMC skip Opposition Unity meet in Haryana?

The opposition unity conclave organised by Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala is over. Several leaders of various regional parties have attended the meeting. The meeting was mainly organised to cobble up an ant-BJP front at the national level for the 2024 elections. Several political parties like the Nationalist Congress Party, Bihar’s Janata Dal United and others attended the meeting.

But, two notable absentees were TRS chief and Telangana CM KCR and TMC supremo-cum- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee. Both the leaders chose to stay away from the meeting. Thus, two strong regional leaders with powerful governments have not attended the meeting. This has robbed the sheen off the meeting.

While the general consensus at the meeting was that the BJP cannot be defeated without taking the support of the Congress Party, both TRS and the TMC are averse to joining hands with the Congress. Mamta wants to be the leader of the non-BJP front, while the TRS feels that aligning with the Congress could hit its interests in Telangana. Hence, both chose to stay away.

Both Telangana and West Bengal account for more than 50 MP seats. The BJP is quite weak in Telangana and a poor second in West Bengal. These two states and the parties ruling these states are important for any anti-BJP alliance. With both the parties staying away, the meeting failed to enthuse the political circles in the country.