As the election season heats up, horse-trading seems to have regained its momentum in the political arena of India. As his Rajya Sabha membership is set to expire within a few months, Subramaniam Swamy has now resorted to courting Trinamool Congress (TMC) in order to garner some political mileage.
Mamata meets Swamy on her Delhi adventure
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banarjee is on the last leg of her Delhi tour. Within 3 days of her tour which started on 22nd November, she was seen hobnobbing with leaders from all sections of the Indian political spectrum. She also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tried to persuade him for reducing the power of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the state.
However, amongst all the meetings, Mamata’s camaraderie with Subramaniam Swamy hogged the limelight. On Wednesday, 24th November, Mamata Banerjee had a meeting with the ambivert leader in Delhi. The meeting was supposed to put a final stamp on the rumours of Swamy joining Mamata’s Bandwagon.
When asked about rumours of joining TMC, Swamy did not give any clear-cut answer. He emphasised that he does not want to join the party. Praising Mamata Banerjee, he said, “I was already with her (Mamata). There is no need for me to join the party.” However, Subramaniam Swamy later started to add laurels to Mamata Banerjee on social media.
Subramaniam Swamy acts like an obedient schoolboy after meeting Mamata
Subramaniam Swamy, in a tweet, compared Mamata with former political heavyweights like P V Narsimha Rao. Swamy seemed to be oblivious of Mamata Banerjee’s U-turn on open border policy to invite illegal Bangladeshi when he claimed that Mamata says what she means and vice-versa.
Of the all the politicians I have met or worked with, Mamata Banerjee ranks with JP, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, Chandrashekhar, and P V Narasimha Rao who meant what they said and said what they meant. In Indian politics that is a rare quality
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) November 24, 2021
Similarly, in another tweet posted on the same date, Swamy called the Narendra Modi government a huge failure. Swamy, without any substantive evidence whatsoever, called the Modi government a big failure in Economy, Border Security, Foreign Policy, National Security, and Internal Security.
Modi Government's Report Card:
Economy—FAIL
Border Security–FAIL
Foreign Policy –Afghanistan Fiasco
National Security —Pegasus NSO
Internal Security—Kashmir Gloom
Who is responsible?–Subramanian Swamy— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) November 24, 2021
In one tweet, he accused PM Modi of not knowing enough economics. Earlier, he went on to call the Ministry of External Affairs and the National security advisor a big failure. His latest social media posts are filled with anti-Modi and anti-government tweets.
Or is Modicomics since he does not know economics?
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) November 22, 2021
India has a bad patch in the MEA and NSA, sleeping while China gobbled our territory. Even these people who have let Bharat Mata down are not willing to call a spade a spade—China is an aggressor. Modi govt is full of simpletons who could not guess Xi after 18 one to one meets.
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) November 22, 2021
Swamy and his political flip-flops
Though considered a maverick, Swamy’s history has been full of flip-flops on multiple issues. A brilliant academician of his younger days, Swamy was quick to learn the art of political opportunism. Well-known for bringing IIT-Delhi on its knees, Swamy later ditched his academic interests in order to garner more political power.
Read more: The rather drastic fall of Subramanian Swamy
His initial political days were full of contradictions. He started his politics basing his initial plinth on Janata Party. Later, he went on to fight with Indira Gandhi over socialist vs liberal economic policies. His first Rajya Sabha membership owes mainly to his opposition to Indira. Typical of his upcoming years’ flip-flops, he later went on to become a close aid of Rajiv Gandhi.
Read more: Sonia’s Indira Gandhi Card attests the Gandhi’s desperation about Swamy’s “project National Herald ”
There are contradictions, and then there is Subramaniam Swamy
Contradictions do not end here. After his own Janta Party failed, he officially joined BJP in 2013. During his current tenure as BJP leader, Swamy has secured many victories for BJP, including political and social approval for the rejuvenation of Mandirs. Similarly, he has also caught hold of P. Chidambaram, Congress heavyweight. But, his political opportunism has let him down at every front.
Ek RS seat ki kimat tum kya jaano suresh babu 😂 pic.twitter.com/qrmZIQps2k
— Bheem 🇺🇲 (@TiredBhiim) November 24, 2021
Due to his political ambitions, he has rejected coveted posts like India’s ambassadorship in the US, a respectable post in the United Nations, and chairman of the BRICS bank. Finally, after many deliberations, Swamy was given Rajya Sabha membership by BJP in April 2016.
Read more: Swamy believed that Chidambaram belongs to Tihar and he made sure of that
If everything is on schedule, the Rajya Sabha membership of Swamy is set to end in April 2022. And, BJP is in no mood to hand over any political post to the politically ambidextrous Swamy.
At the same time, Mamata Banerjee is also a defamed leader due to her insistent support for Islamists in West Bengal. To garner some more political support, she has roped inexperienced leaders like Pavan Verma and Kirti Azad into her party’s ranks. It is yet to be seen when Swamy decides to officially join TMC, or if he will even join TMC? No one knows the answer to this, but considering that Swamy is over 80 years old, it’s tough for him to leave aside any offers for a political post.