Bengaluru: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien said that a ‘collective leadership’ among the incumbent opposition parties is essential to wrest power from NDA in 2019. “We need to fight the BJP in local idioms using local languages, for instance Siddarmaiah-led movement in Karnataka, and likewise Mamata didi (Banerjee) and Naveen babu (Patnaik) at Bengal and Odisha respectively, to get a local understanding which is essential,” he said.
Elaborating on his vision of the next parliamentary elections, the Rajya Sabha MP further added that Bengal would have a bigger say in the bigger picture by then. “Mamata didi is the most credible face in the incumbent opposition at the national level,” he alluded.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah (without naming them), he said that ‘the pair’ having a final say on all issues is something that cannot be accepted any further, which does upset the total democratic balance of the country.
Regarding the delayed winter session of the parliament he said that the BJP is trying to run away from confronting the opposition on various issues, including corruption, failure of the GST rollout, Aadhaar linkage and other contentious issues.
On being asked on the upcoming Gujarat elections, Mr O’ Brien said, “The Ranji Trophy matches do not count. The test matches coming up in 2019 is what everything accounts up to.”
Interacting with the audience at the Bengaluru launch of his book Inside Parliament: Views From The Front Row, the journalist-turned-quizmaster-turned-politician advised the people not to fall for the ‘communal narrative’ orchestrated by vested interest across the country.
“Communal should never be the narrative, issues should be. We should be aware of the fact how the rumour spreading society is now turning Facebook into a complete Fakebook. The minorities have a key role to play by not falling prey to the polarization trend being played now,” he alluded. Congress MP Rajeev Gowda was also present during the full house in-conversation session hosted by senior journalist Barkha Dutt held at the city on Sunday.
