Chatter over Pinarayi, Mamata sharing space

NEW DELHI:The picture of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rubbing shoulders expressing solidarity with beleaguered Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal offered a rare sub-text that may leave the traditional supporters of either parties somewhat confused.

Kerela Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (L) with his Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal counterparts N Chandrababu Naidu and Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 18

The picture of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan rubbing shoulders expressing solidarity with beleaguered Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal offered a rare sub-text that may leave the traditional supporters of either parties somewhat confused.

It is well-established a pathological aversion to the Communists in general and the Marxists variety in particular is the raison détre for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in Bengal. That she and Vijayan, who leads the CPI (M)-led Left Front government, shared space in itself has resulted in some chatter among sections of comrades.

In West Bengal, the Trinamool and the Left cadres are literally at each other’s throat and it is wholly unimaginable that the TMC leader could find common ground with a leader from the Left. The redeeming feature for Banerjee is that even though Vijayan is a member of the CPI (M)’s all-important Polit Bureau, he holds a constitutional post as the Chief Minister. “After the development, we were discussing what kind of message is being sent to the Left...we are not clear...”, a senior Left leader said, preferring anonymity.

Former CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat sought to dismiss any political interpretation, suggesting that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had called the meeting and at its core was the important subject of Centre-State relations. The meeting was of Chief Ministers and not party-level interaction, he said.

“For us the issues was NITI Aayog meeting and Centre-states issue. The initiative was taken by AP CM Chandrababu Naidu and all present used the opportunity to declare support for (Delhi CM Arvind) Kejriwal”.

Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal along with HD Kumaraswamy of Karnataka on Sunday had urged the Prime Minister to intervene and end the current impasse in Delhi where the CM and his team have been on a dharna inside LG’s office.