Amid row over the inauguration of the new parliament building recently, several opposition parties came together in a show of strength and Trinamool Congress led by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has emerged as a key player in leading them.

In a free-wheeling interview with Chandrani Banerjee, senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Shekhar Ray spoke about the parties’ dissent. He also said that the decision to stay away from the high-profile event was projected in a bad light. The veteran party leader admitted that the TMC does not have a pan-India presence and would be happy to lend support to the Congress that has a wider presence. Known for his proximity with the TMC supremo, Ray who has widely travelled and also edits TMC mouthpiece Jago Bangla, while responding to Mamata’s projection as the Prime Ministerial candidate said it would be too early to draw such conclusions.

Here are the excerpts

CB: Several opposition parties including TMC came together to boycott the inauguration of the new parliament building, do you think it’s appropriate to boycott such events?

SSR: Boycott is a very strong word and is being wrongly used by the media for our displeasure against the BJP government. We had never said that we will boycott the inauguration of the new parliament building. It is an inappropriate and cheap way of presenting our viewpoint. We had said that we will not attend the function. Not attending a function and boycotting are two different things. We had justified reasons for not attending it. There were 20 parties that did not attend the programme.

CB: With opposition parties trying to come together in the recent months, some supporters are looking at Mamata Banerjee as a potential PM candidate. How does the party view her projection as a PM face in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections?

SSR: We are not a presidential form of government but a parliamentary form of government. And in the democratic set up first the elections take place and then depending upon the number of seats a party gets, a decision about who the PM should be would be taken. But it is very early to say anything about it right now.

CB: Would you or won’t you field candidates in the constituencies where your allies or like-minded parties have a strong base?

SSR: First of all, we do not have a pan-India presence. In other states, we are not strong enough to contest alone. And party supremo Mamata Banerjee has always been the front-runner in uniting the regional parties to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party away. So our stand was always to align with the region-specific parties and we will not contest alone in different states we will certainly collaborate.

CB: Your party is cozying up to other chief ministers and parties, is there some well-thought-out strategy to counter the BJP government in the upcoming elections?

SSR: Well, Mamata Banerjee met with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, and HD Kumaraswamy from Karnataka. But, is it important that the Congress party is also part of this opposition that we are trying to build against the BJP. It has an all-India presence and now Congress is in four states Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Mamata Banerjee approached senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi long ago who earlier seemed reluctant but not anymore.

CB: How successful and useful have been the central schemes in West Bengal?

SSR: BJP has unleashed economic blockages in the state as if West Bengal is not part of India. The West Bengal government has floated

at least half-a-dozen schemes but no funds have been released from the central kitty for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) and as far as I could remember it is only about Rs 7,000 cr while another scheme probably Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna is still stuck because of the paucity of funds.

CB: BJP claims that the violence has been rising in your state and the perpetrators have your party’s tacit support. How do you look at such allegations?

SSR: These are cooked-up stories and spread with a definitive purpose. BJP, Congress, and CPI(M), these three parties have joined hands and are critical of Trinamool Congress. From 2009 till date, TMC has won each and every election be it panchayat, assembly, or parliamentary polls. Therefore, they have come up with this new theory of TMC supporting political violence in the state.

CB: Your rivals have been saying that your party is now facing anti-incumbency in the state while claiming that the law and order situation has been deteriorating?

SSR: The verdict that the people give is bigger than any opinion of any political leader or political party. We have not lost a single election.

CB. How do you look at the central agency’s action against Abhishek Banerjee?

SSR: It’s all political vendetta. Look who’s talking. The national president of this political party was caught live on camera accepting a bribe — Bangaru Laxman- was convicted by a Special CBI Court on 27 April 2012 for taking a bribe under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Why is the CBI not investigating Hemant Biswa Sharma? As our Trinamool Congress chief says that BJP is a washing machine that washes corruption as soon as someone joins them.

CB: Why do you think other parties could not make a mark in West Bengal in the past elections?

SSR: People have expressed faith in Trinamool Congress. This is the reason no other party could make a dent in our vote bank. Another big reason is our chief minister always gives a patient ear to each and every citizen who has been facing hardship. So we get the opportunity to serve them.