The bond between Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee took a hit after both the leaders developed national ambitions (Photo Credit: Gulf News)
AAP had contested Goa polls in 2017, so it has reasons to be irked by the Trinamool move to enter the fray as the apprehension is growing that the anti-BJP votes would be split, giving advantage to the saffron outfit.
New Delhi: More infighting and contradictions are coming to the fore between opposition parties.
Now Arvind Kejriwal, a longtime 'Mamata Didi' admirer, has sought to question Trinamool Congress's national ambitions and its efforts to spread its national footprint.
"I think you people (media) give a lot of importance to TMC. I think TMC doesn't have even one per cent vote share as of now. It came to Goa only three months back, 'aise Democracy nahi chalti (democracy doesn't work like this)," Kejriwal said in Panjim on Wednesday (December 22).
"You need to work hard; you need to work among people. I don't think they are even in the race," said AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister.
Till recently, the Kejriwal-Mamata bonhomie used to be very strong. It perhaps originated in both the parties trying to turn more left than the communists.
Like Mamata's brand of politics of 'street-fight', Kejriwal, at one point, even took pride in calling him an anarchist. He had also indulged in one-upmanship straight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in 2016-17 more often gave into himself the task of fighting BJP and Modi, perhaps single-handedly. Little did he realise that he was heading a city government with seven parliamentary constituencies.
The Mamata-Kejriwal bond was often seen and spoken about on the parliament premises or the Central Hall functions. TMC chief often kept a seat by her side vacant for Kejriwal in Parliament's Central Hall of parliament functions. One such occasion was the swearing-in of New President Ram Nath Kovind in July 2017. The meeting between the two used to be a must on Mamata's itinerary whenever she was in the capital. However, this minimised slowly as both developed national ambitions.
AAP had contested in Goa polls in 2017, so it has reasons to be irked by the Trinamool move to enter the fray as the apprehension is growing that the anti-BJP votes would be split, giving advantage to the saffron outfit.
However, AAP's vote share was a modest 6.3 per cent. It finished fifth with no seat in the tally after BJP, Congress, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, and Independents put together.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress continues the virtual 'shopping spree' and picks up disgruntled local Congress leaders. Even on December 21 (Tuesday), former working president of Congress in Goa, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, resigned as a member of the Goa Assembly and from the Congress and later in the day joined Trinamool Congress in Kolkata.
Talking about ambitions, it is to be pointed that Kejriwal displayed that first in 2014 when he quit as Delhi Chief Minister and contested against NDA's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, in Varanasi. The victory margin in favour of Modi was over 3 lakhs. While Modi had polled 581,022 votes, Kejriwal had bagged 209,238 into his kitty.
Recently, Mamata's party has developed major differences with the Congress and, to an extent, even with the Shiv Sena.
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