By Gautam Datt
Feb 5 IANS): Mamata Banerjee's dramatic confrontation with the Centre may have sent the opposition scampering for the unity cover, but with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) refusing to play along, the Left calling it a sham and a Bengal Congress leader slamming the Chief Minister, the ride remains bumpy for the anti-Modi pack.
Trinamool Congress' Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien thanked 18 opposition leaders for standing with Banerjee in her fight against the Centre following a high drama in Kolkata over Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in the chit fund scam. The "thank you" tweet tagged Rahul Gandhi, M.K. Stalin, Lalu Prasad, H.D. Deve Gowda and others.
Support also came from an unexpected quarter when the BJD, which had stayed away from the anti-Modi rally organised recently by Banerjee, talked about the unprofessional conduct of the CBI citing examples of similar action in Odisha ahead of the Panchayat and general elections.
Even before the reaction brought cheers in the opposition camp, the BJD clarified that it should not be grouped with other political parties as its reaction pertained only in the context of Odisha and issues confronting the probe agency at the national level.
"The BJD would like to clarify that the statement by BJD on CBI is in relation to Odisha and overall issues confronting CBI at the national level. Grouping BJD with some political parties because of this statement is incorrect and misleading," said the party, explaining the context of its position.
The inability of the opposition leaders to sort out inner contradictions continues to be on public display. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), the two leading parties of Uttar Pradesh, are opposed to the Congress.
Other strong regional forces like the BJD and the TRS remained opposed to both Congress and BJP. TRS leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao has not come out in support of Mamata.
The Congress was embarrassed after one of its MPs from West Bengal Adhir Chowdhary called Mamata Banerjee's sit-in protest against the CBI action as "drama".