Mamata Banerjee reacts as support builds for INDIA bloc leadership: 'Grateful ...'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (Image: PTI)

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the opposition leaders who backed her for the leadership role in the INDIA bloc. “I am grateful to all the leaders who have honoured me. I wish good health to all of them. May they be well, may their party be well. May India be well,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said during a gathering in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur.

The opposition parties are indirectly questioning Congress's leadership role in the INDIA bloc after the grand old party faced back-to-back defeats in the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

An uneasy tension has been building within the opposition ranks, with some parties now disagreeing with Congress over its strategy to block the functioning of Parliament amid the ongoing winter session.

Last week, Banerjee expressed her dissatisfaction with the functioning of the INDIA bloc and said she was ready to accept its leadership if she was asked to.

"I had formed the INDIA bloc, now it is up to those leading the front to manage it. If they can't run the show, what can I do? I would just say that everyone needs to be taken along…If given the opportunity I would ensure its smooth functioning. I don't want to go outside West Bengal, but I can run it from here," she said in an interview with News 18 Bangla on Friday.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad said that the West Bengal chief minister had the ability to lead the INDIA bloc, pointing out that TMC was the only party to keep BJP at bay.

The statement from the TMC supremo was also backed by several non-Congress leaders from the opposition bloc.

On Tuesday, RJD leader Lalu Prasad backed Mamata Banerjee for the leadership role in the INDIA bloc. "Congress’s objection means nothing. We will support Mamata… Mamata Banerjee should be given the leadership (of the INDIA Bloc)… We will form the government again in 2025…,” Yadav said.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar also said that Mamata is capable of leading the alliance. “Yes certainly (she is capable of leading the alliance), she is a prominent leader of this nation… she has that capability.. the elected leaders she sent in the parliament are responsible, dutiful and well aware people… therefore she has the right to say so,” he said.

Notably, Congress and TMC have been uneasy allies in the INDIA bloc ever since its formation last year. Both parties contested the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal independently after negotiations for a seat-sharing agreement collapsed.