Trinamool Plans Oppn CMs’ Conclave on Lines of NTR’s 1983 Meeting

Drawing parallels with NT Rama Rao’s opposition convention in 1983, the Trinamool Congress intends to convene an opposition chief ministers’ conference to put forward an opposition alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

NT Rama Rao (NTR), the former chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, launched a non-Congress Unified Front in 1983 on his birthday – 28 May – by hosting a conference in Vijayawada to chalk out a common strategy. Rao, who took the initiative at the 1983 Vijayawada Conclave, marked the beginning of opposition unity, which bore fruit in the 1989 government of Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh.

“We are currently planning to organize a conference of opposition chief ministers without the prime ministerial face and unite against the anti-people policies of the BJP. There will be a platform. Against the Congress in 1983. It was taken forward by Farooq Abdullah, who organized the second such conference in Kashmir. These were small steps but it led to a united opposition and led to the formation of Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s government,” Trinamool Congress’ national spokesperson Sukhendu Shekhar Roy told ET.

The effort initiated by NTR in 1983 was followed by conferences in Srinagar and Kolkata in 1984 and several meetings in New Delhi. NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Farooq Abdullah were among 24 leaders from 14 opposition parties who shared a common stage in Vijayawada with NT Rama Rao as the host.

“Whatever step the opposition parties will take, it is a step towards Lok Sabha elections and it will be done through deliberation, combination of views and consensus of like-minded people,” Roy said.

“Keeping an eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections, the opposition parties will unite and strengthen themselves with various regional parties that dominate a particular state or region – DMK in Tamil Nadu and KCR in Telangana. However, there are other like-minded and adversaries. -BJP forces will also be involved,” Roy told ET. “Some opposition chief ministers are determined to start a fight against the BJP to save the democracy and the federal structure of the country. After the rise of the BJP, the federal structure of the country is at stake. It is the fundamental duty of the Center. To preserve it. For.”

Apart from the conclave, the Trinamool is planning to convene a meeting of its National Working Committee (NWC) in New Delhi during the second phase of the budget session of Parliament in March. The party intends to form an opposition alliance with anti-BJP opposition leaders through the conclave. Banerjee has already set the ball rolling after initial discussions with MK Stalin and KCR, who in turn took the issue forward with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Roy slammed the governors of various opposition-ruled states for “acting as agents of the central government” and interfering in the day-to-day activities of the state. “Bengal has seen regular interference of the Governor in the routine affairs of the state. Unless we are united with our respective identities, there will be centralization of the executive.”

Originally published at Pen 18