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  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
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  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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oppn parties
TMC: Going National

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-11-30 07:01:45

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) held the meeting of the working committee of the party on Monday in Kolkata. The meeting assumed significance as the party is trying to soar high and get out of its 'Bengal-centric' image and expand its footprint. To this end, the party invited many leaders who have joined the party in the last few months as special invitees to the meeting.

Former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha, Bihar leader Pavan Varma, Haryana leader Asoke Tanwar, Meghalaya leaders Mukul Sangma and Charles Pyngrope and tennis star Leander Paes were the special invitees who attended Monday's meeting. It was also reported that Mamata Banerjee met the Meghalaya leaders separately before the meeting started.

The party also decided to make the working committee fully representative as per its pan-India aspirations and will soon induct Yashwant Sinha as a member. It also decided to hold the next meeting of the working committee in Delhi.

After its spectacular victory in Bengal, acquisition of many leaders from other parties and a creditable performance in Tripura, the TMC is becoming more aggressive in trying to become the major opposition force. The party said after the meeting that Mamata Banerjee is the "strongest and most credible and experienced" leader and she is the fittest to take on the BJP.

It is now clear that even as the Congress wants to leverage its all-India infrastructure, its governments in several states and its presence as a sizeable opposition in other state assemblies to pitchfork Rahul Gandhi as the face of a united opposition ahead of the 2024 general elections, the TMC is in no mood to oblige. It has seriously started the process of expanding its footprint and projecting Mamata Banerjee as the best leader to lead the opposition.

The greatest advantage that the TMC has is that being a regional party itself, it can convince other regional parties to come on board as they will not feel threatened about the TMC poaching on their turfs. All regional parties view the Congress with suspicion as they contest against it in state elections. But with the TMC, that would not be the case. It remains to be seen how far the TMC can take this line and how well it can arrange things to have a united opposition (most probably minus the Congress) fighting the BJP under the leadership of the redoubtable Mamata Banerjee.

 

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