PATNA — After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed willingness to lead the opposition coalition INDIA bloc, RJD national president Lalu Prasad endorsed her leadership on Tuesday.
“The responsibility to lead the INDIA bloc should be given to Mamata Banerjee. I agree with it. Nothing will happen if Congress objects. It should be given to Mamata Banerjee,” Lalu Prasad said while speaking to the media persons in Patna on Tuesday.
Lalu's support for the West Bengal Chief Minister comes two days after Mamata Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction with the current functioning of the INDIA bloc.
CM Banerjee in an interview with a private news channel on Friday (December 6) had said that if necessary, she can play the lead role in collective leadership by operating from her own state.
"What can I do if they cannot run the show? I do not lead the front. Those who are in leadership positions there should think about it. But still, I am maintaining my connections with the regional and national parties," she said.
On her role in the opposition bloc, CM Banerjee had said that given an opportunity, she would run the opposition bloc from West Bengal.
"There are some who cannot tolerate me. If given the responsibility, though I do not want that, I can run it (INDIA bloc) from West Bengal. But I do not want to stay away from Bengal. I was born here and will die here," the Chief Minister had said.
Now, with Lalu's statement, questions are being raised about the future of the Opposition group following a string of electoral losses.
Mamata's ambition and Lalu's endorsement signal the growing assertiveness of regional leaders, potentially sidelining Congress's central role.
Earlier, senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav had said that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is not the leader of the INDIA bloc, adding that the grand old party's below-par performance in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections might have made the Trinamool Congress supremo submit her remarks.
"In Himachal Pradesh, where the Congress is in power, they lost all four seats. Similarly, in Karnataka and Telangana, both Congress-ruled states, they lost half of their Lok Sabha seats. Furthermore, Congress failed to win even a single seat in Madhya Pradesh. It suffered major losses in Chhattisgarh. Had Congress performed better in the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi would not have become the Prime Minister today.