TMC to skip joint Oppn meeting called by Congress

The Trinamool Congress will not attend the meeting of opposition floor leaders called by Mallikarjun Kharge on November 29 to "create a consensus" over the issues to be raised in the  beginning from Monday.

"The TMC will not attend the meeting of opposition floor leaders called by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge tomorrow, but definitely will attend both the meetings one chaired by the Prime Minister and another by the Rajya Sabha Chairman," a TMC leader informed.

"Will definitely bring forth several issues in the upcoming session," said the leader added.

The Trinamool Congress and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, with the grand old party finding itself in a tight spot.

The winter session will commence on November 29 and is scheduled to conclude on December 23.

Amid the strained relationship between the two, the TMC advised the Congress that it should have "proper internal coordination and set their own house in order".

"We are disinterested in coordinating with the Congress during the winter session. Congress leaders should first coordinate among themselves. They should set their own house in order and then think about coordinating with other camps," a senior TMC leader privy to the party's decision told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Asked whether the TMC would coordinate with other opposition parties, he said, "We will raise several issues concerning the people's interest and will coordinate with them. We most probably will not attend the opposition parties' meeting convened by the Congress."

Speaking about aversion to the Congress in the fight against the BJP, he said, "their leaders lack the determination to take on the saffron camp".

The TMC will hold its national coordination committee meeting on November 29 at West Bengal Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee's residence in Kolkata.

The party will discuss various issues, including its strategy in the winter session of Parliament, the TMC leader said.

Banerjee, in July, was unanimously chosen as the chairperson of the TMC parliamentary party.

TMC's Rajya Sabha party leader Derek O' Brien, while listing out the topics that the party would raise during the winter session, said the issues "self-select themselves".

"The issues to be taken in the winter session of Parliament self-select themselves. For example, we will raise the issues of repealing farm laws, legislation to ensure MSP, extension of tenures of ED and CBI directors, BSF's increased jurisdiction, weakening of the federal structure, fuel prices and bank privatisation," he said.

The Trinamool Congress has been up in arms over the Congress' alleged failure to fight against the BJP.

Recently, it had termed the Congress as an "incapable and incompetent" party and asserted that Mamata Banerjee-led TMC can't be blamed for their leaders jumping the ship.

Last month, the relationship between the two camps reached a new low after Banerjee's party took a dig at Rahul Gandhi's defeat at Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, wondering whether the Congress would erase it through a Twitter trend.

The ties between the Congress and the TMC got strained recently after the latter's mouthpiece 'Jago Bangla' claimed that Banerjee, and not Rahul Gandhi, has emerged as the face of the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With inputs from ANI