Clearly, Derek O’Brien, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, does not mince his words. The fiery politician and AITC spokesperson followed up his earlier video demanding the Indian Prime Minister to come to Parliament to discuss the Manipur issue, with a second video, released just a couple of days after the earlier one.
For those who just tuned in, on July 31, after a delegation of I.N.D.I.A members returned to Delhi from Manipur and recounted how violence continued to rage unabated through the Northeastern state, O’Brien didn’t just urge the Prime Minister to break his silence on the issue, but threw a rhetorical, “Who the hell do you think you are?” at him.
He spoke on video, which was shot with him standing flanked by other leaders of the I.N.D.I.A, demanding that the PM address the burning issue. He pointed out how other, former Indian PMs from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi to Manmohan Singh to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, faced the Opposition in Parliament when they were at the receiving end of scathing criticism over critical issues. Not surprisingly the video went viral on social media.
O’Brien’s follow-up video was as direct as the earlier one and this time he almost cajoled the PM with an alternative, the gist of which was as if to say, ‘Okay, fine, you don’t have to follow the example of the PMs who belonged to other political parties, but at least follow the example of the PM who belonged to your own party.’ O’Brien said, addressing the PM, “You wouldn’t be inspired perhaps by Dr Manmohan Singh or what the other Prime Ministers would do because you feel they are from different political parties but at least be inspired by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister (who belonged to the BJP).” He enumerated the number of times that Vajpayee took up controversial issues in Parliament to discuss them and give explanations.
Over the past decades since Mamata Banerjee came to power as chief minister, she has continued to appoint O’Brien as her party’s official spokesperson and sent him to the Upper House of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, three times in a row and this trust has been attributed, among other merits, to his candidness and ability to directly articulate his party’s and the party chief’s stance.
In fact, Didi had the former journalist and advertising executive who is also an author, accompany her to the important second meeting of India’s Opposition leaders in Bengaluru on July 18. There have been suggestions that O’Brien, with his background in marketing, had a part to play in developing the acronym I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). I.N.D.I.A, of course is the new name for the alliance of India’s political parties which have united to fight against the BJP in the Parliamentary elections of 2024.
Reflecting on the emergence of the idea of I.N.D.I.A in his recent column “Zero Hour” for the Indian Express, he wrote, “The name of the new alliance needed to communicate multiple rational thoughts like national, development, inclusive, democratic, patriotic and progressive.”
I.N.D.I.A, Derek felt, conveyed the “all these seemingly heavy concepts in a simple and evocative way.”
Whether O’Brien’s direct pleas to the PM to “please come to the Parliament and discuss Manipur” would yield results or not is something that only time will tell.
Mr Narendra Modi, why don’t you BE INSPIRED BY Mr. ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE and come speak inside Parliament. Here are many examples of the former PM speaking in #Parliament pic.twitter.com/KrLfY0zqq8
— Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) August 1, 2023