oppn parties Vice-Presidential Polls: TMC's Decision To Abstain Will Hurt Opposition Unity

Story Of The Day

A 2,458-Point Rally Is Not Yet A Recovery

November 07, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About Junk Food Near Schools

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • 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
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • 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
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
oppn parties
Vice-Presidential Polls: TMC's Decision To Abstain Will Hurt Opposition Unity

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-07-23 14:45:07

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

The 17 opposition parties, led by the Congress and the NCP, were wrong when they declared Margaret Alva's name as the 'joint' opposition candidate for the vice-presidential elections without consulting the Trinamool Congress (TMC), knowing well that it is one of the strongest party that opposes the BJP and its policies and Mamata Banerjee is spending a lot of time in bringing the opposition together. But what the TMC has said it will now do - abstain from voting in the said elections - is also not right. It makes it look petulant and takes opposition unity several steps back. Although the opposition parties are outnumbered in both the presidential and the vice-presidential elections, if the opposition was united and voted as per its strength, that would have provided a true picture of opposition unity. It would have also built a lot of goodwill among these parties which would have been good for future alliances.

The NDA had nominated former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate. So ideally, the TMC had the biggest incentive to take the lead and get the entire opposition to vote against him as the party had accused him of being a "BJP agent" as he was always at loggerheads with the state government in West Bengal. By deciding to abstain, it will only ensure that Dhakhar wins with a bigger margin and that there will be cracks in opposition unity.

It seems that more than the BJP which wants a Congress-mukt India, it is the TMC that wants a Congress-mukt opposition. It is joined by the AAP in this. Both these parties are aiming to capture the opposition space that is visibly being lost by the Congress in state after state. Hence, they are opposed to the Congress playing a leading role in any opposition initiative. As the Congress had taken the lead in getting the opposition together at Sharad Pawar's home for discussing about the vice-presidential candidate and had then ensured that Alva's name was hurriedly announced even though Mamata Banerjee was not consulted, the TMC has taken a tough stand. Although Alva has said that this is not the time for "whataboutery" and has appealed to the TMC to support her by shedding "ego or anger", it is clear that the party is not going to budge from what it has called a "principled" stand taken in view of the other opposition parties' "unilateral" decision without consulting it.

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

A Bench in Chennai Is Not the Answer to a Bench in Every Capital

A Bench in Chennai Is Not the Answer to a Bench in Every Capital

 Gold At Astana Must Become a System, Not a Story

Gold At Astana Must Become a System, Not a Story

In Depth

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Editor's Pick

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.