At Congress' "Black" Protest Over Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool's Surprise Entry

Trinamool sources said Prasun Banerjee and Jawhar Sircar will attend the meeting, scheduled for 10:30 am today. 

                      At Congress' "Black" Protest Over Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool's Surprise Entry 

New Delhi: In a rare feat of Opposition unity, the Trinamool Congress, which said it will remain equidistant from the BJP and the Congress, today joined the big strategy meeting in the office of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Prasun Banerjee and Jawhar Sircar represented TMC in the meeting, which discussed the Opposition strategy on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Parliament. The party said the Opposition should be united, even though they are distancing themselves from a joint front on other issues.

Mr Kharge said that the Congress party welcomes anyone who strides forward to “protect democracy”.

“I thank everyone who supported this. That is why, I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us,” the Congress president said.

Congress MPs wore black shirts as a mark of protest over Mr Gandhi's disqualification. K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi, a rival of the Congress in Telangana, joined the “black shirt” protest along with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). After Rahul Gandhi's "not Savarkar" jibe at the BJP over its demand for an apology, Uddhav Thackeray had, on Sunday, warned him that demeaning Vinayak Savarkar would create “cracks” in the opposition alliance.

17 opposition parties -- INC, DMK, SP, JDU, BRS, CPM, RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, KC, TMC, RSP, AAP, J&K NC, and Shiv Sena (UBT) -- attended the meeting.

TMC shares an uneasy relationship with the Congress, which is part of the opposition, along with the Left, in Trinamool-governed West Bengal. The party had initially maintained a calculated silence on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification in a 2019 defamation case, even among widespread calls for a united opposition against the BJP's alleged targetting of opposition leaders. TMC has in the past avoided joining Opposition strategy meetings that Congress was part of.

TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a strong critic of the BJP, supported Rahul Gandhi.

“In PM Modi's New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of the BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy,” she had earlier said.

Ms Banerjee had earlier this month accused the Congress-Left combine of having an 'immoral alliance' with the BJP, and said that her party will not enter into any partnership with the two to fight for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Ms Banerjee claimed that the Congress, after having sought the “saffron camp's help”, should refrain from calling itself anti-BJP.

Congress has called Mr Gandhi's disqualification a “conspiracy” to silence Rahul Gandhi, who they say was making the PM and the BJP uncomfortable with sharp questions on the Adani-Hindenburg issue. Congress workers have been protesting across the country for the last two days. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge and top leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have accused the government of “trying to silence” a “martyr's son”.

Asserting that the action against Mr Gandhi was lawful, and initiated by an independent judiciary, the BJP accused the Congress of protesting against the Constitution and the courts.

The move drew the Opposition's ire, which called the swift action by the Lok Sabha secretariat a “dictatorial move” and decried the “murder of democracy”.

Meanwhile, 14 opposition parties have approached the Supreme Court, alleging the misuse of central investigating agencies by the government. The top court will hear the case on April 5.

52-year-old former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a court in Gujarat, PM Modi's home state, and sentenced to two years in jail for a 2019 speech in which he linked PM Modi's last name with two fugitive businessmen, remarking how the “thieves” shared the same last name. The court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal to a higher court.

Rahul Gandhi's team has said they will challenge the verdict in a higher court. If the order is not cancelled, Mr Gandhi will not be allowed to contest elections for the next eight years.