KOLKATA 1 MARCH: In a clear message to the Trinamool Congress that the party has received the support of the non-BJP parties, both Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Bihar and Samajwadi party of Uttar Pradesh extended support to the ruling party on Monday.
In particular, Tejaswi Yadav of RJD who is in the process of forming an alliance with the Mamata-led Trinamool Congress met with Didi at Nabanna. Later, told the media that RJD would be extending all its support to Banerjee. Also, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav declared their full support to Trinamool Congress in its fight against the saffron party from Lucknow.
Yadav said, “They will support TMC with full force in Bengal. Our alliance with Congress and the Left is for Bihar. In Bengal, it is a much larger battle to protect democracy. And our main aim is to crush BJP’s ego and power in Bengal.”
Although, both the leaders did not specify the seat-sharing or even the number of seats that RJD plans to contest, both the leaders’ speeches indicate that both the leaders expect good cooperation from each other.
Later, Mamata Banerjee, said, “We have decided to support each other in whatever ways we can. There is no fixed formula planned yet, but we have decided to support each other.”
It may be worth mentioning that the CPI(M) lost out on its RJD ally. In 2016, the Left plus alliance had put up an RJD candidate in the Jorasanko constituency against TMC’s Smita Bakshi & BJP’s Rahul Sinha. In fact, Bakshi won the seat.
What Political Analysts Feel
According to political analysts, the decision to ally with any non-BJP parties will have an impact on TMC’s strength. Mainly, because the voters are aware of the crucial fact that Tejaswi and Akhilesh Yadav do not have any strength on the ground in Bengal.
Sabyasachi Basu Roy Chowdhury, a senior professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University, said, “We feel that the non-BJP parties need to be more careful in aligning with any party. In the case of the Trinamool Congress, if they align with any party outside Bengal, then there are chances that TMC’s popularity may decrease. This will create a negative impact on the core TMC voters.”