'Mamata, Stalin or...': Sena-UBT on INDIA bloc leadership issue

The Shiv Sena-UBT is openly questioning the Congress party's leadership within the INDIA bloc.

IMAGE: Saamana suggested that the INDIA bloc leadership should be given to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points

The Sena-UBT editorial in Saamana emphasises the need for proactive discussions and conscious decisions within the INDIA bloc to maintain momentum.
Concerns are raised about the INDIA bloc's inactivity post-Lok Sabha elections and the Congress's conflicting alliances in different states.
The editorial acknowledges Rahul Gandhi's fighting spirit but cautions against the lethargy that can affect workers when out of power.
Sena-UBT expresses disappointment with the Congress and questions the INDIA bloc's existence, highlighting the need for stronger opposition unity.

The Shiv Sena-UBT on Wednesday said the question of leadership change in the Opposition INDIA bloc has resurfaced and can't be ignored, asserting that it has to be seen who will helm the alliance, in an apparent dig at the Congress.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party referred to voices from disgruntled Congress members and those associated with the UPA dispensation, who suggested that the INDIA bloc leadership should be given to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin.

"The decision has to be taken on Mamata, Stalin or someone else," an editorial in the Sena-UBT mouthpiece Saamana said.

Instead of waking up when elections are announced and talking about the Opposition alliance, it is necessary to hold discussions among its partners and take decisions consciously, it opined.

Congress at helm of INDIA bloc

The Congress has been helming the INDIA bloc, a coalition of Opposition parties formed before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to counter the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

"The issue of change in the leadership of the INDIA bloc has again come to the fore. What happened to the India bloc after the Lok Sabha polls? This question is before many. But has this question come to Congress's mind?" the editorial in Saamana asked.

In West Bengal, the Congress is fighting against the Trinamool Congress (led by Banerjee). In Kerala, the Congress is against the Left. In Maharashtra, the Congress chose to contest independently in the recent civic body polls, which benefited the BJP, it noted.

"The question is as much of the nation as it is of the political discourse. Whenever elections are announced, the INDIA bloc may surely wake up and hold talks. But taking a conscious decision by sitting together is wiser," it suggested.

"The decision has to be taken on Mamata, Stalin or someone else," the Marathi publication added.

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, has taken a good stand that he remains unbothered if he is "thrown out of Parliament" or cases are foisted on him by the government, which is good and reflects his fighting spirit, it said.

But workers become lethargic if they stay away from power and lose the hunger to come to power, the editorial said.

Even if the BJP did not get a majority (referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha poll results) and its government at the Centre survives on crutches, its "arrogance" has not ended, the Sena-UBT claimed.

This is not the first time that the Sena-UBT has expressed disappointment with the Congress.

Responding to a question by PTI in an interview last month on whether the INDIA bloc exists, Thackeray said, "Probe a bit and check whether the INDIA bloc is there or not. This is right that we met only once after Parliament polls at Rahul ji's (Gandhi) residence.