Trinamool Congress MPs have unanimously chosen party supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is also the chief minister of West Bengal, as the chairperson of its parliamentary party.
This will put her in a position to coordinate with other Opposition parties at the national level.
Announcing the decision of the MPs, Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien at a press conference in Delhi said that she has been the guiding force behind the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party for a long time.
"We are just formalising a reality. Our chairperson is a seven-time Member of Parliament. She has the vision to guide the parliamentary party. She has the experience and insight. She was anyway guiding us," he said.
After her TMC's victory in the assembly poll in West Bengal this year, Banerjee has been trying to establish herself as a leader who spearheads the Opposition narrative, something that the Congress was doing so far.
With the Congress's numbers dipping in Parliament and the TMC's emphatic victory in the assembly polls and its performance in the general elections, the Bengal party is looking to displace the Congress as the voice of the Opposition.
What has played to the TMC's advantage is that it does not find itself at odds with other regional opposition parties in other states, something that the Congress has to contend with, a senior TMC leader said.
The announcement of Banerjee being chosen chairperson comes days after top leaders from opposition parties joined the TMC in their Martyrs Day function and ahead of her visit to Delhi on July 26.
"The decision has been taken both at a conceptual and tactical level. She has been a call away always. We feel more empowered," O'Brien said.
He also said that all TMC MPs unanimously chose Banerjee as their leader.
Banerjee is not a member of Parliament.
