- It looks obvious that the opposition block of political parties is firming up their resolve to present a united front to stop the BJP-led NDA’s juggernaut in the ensuing general elections scheduled in May 2023. The INDIA alliance formed by the disparate opposition political parties has already met thrice in the span of a few weeks. As you are aware, the first meeting took place in Patna, Bihar. The second meeting was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and the third meeting was recently concluded in Mumbai, Maharashtra. So far, all the diverse political parties representing different ideologies and beliefs have shown enough resolve to stay together to initiate measures to stitch a common minimum program to take on the electoral might of the BJP.
PC: TELANGANA TODAY
- Of course, the majority of the regional parties have come to prominence at the cost of the Grand Old Party. Look at parties like the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, DMK in Tamil Nadu, AAP in Delhi and Punjab, and some such parties. Also, note that only Congress qualifies as the lone national party among the group. Further, the recently concluded INDIA alliance meeting in Mumbai took a step forward by forming a coordination panel and a campaign committee. Of the two bodies, the coordination panel reflects a measure of the distance the alliance has traveled since its first tentative steps. Notably, the panel has two sitting CMs, MK Stalin and Hemant Soren, and the seasoned Sharad Pawar. KC Venugopal is the Congress nominee here.
- As they say, the intent and optics are equally important. Thus, there’s a tell tale sign the alliance is serious about mounting a challenge to BJP-dominated NDA. That said, it’s still early days for the opposition alliance. Two daunting challenges loom. Lok Sabha elections are increasingly becoming presidential, which gives NDA a big advantage. NDA’s campaign will be built around the undiminished popularity of Narendra Modi and the opposition alliance has its work cut out here. This leads to the other challenge – the role of Congress, the only pan-India party in the opposition. Congress will have to hugely improve its performance in the many seats where it’s the primary challenger to the BJP. This is where the real challenge for the alliance comes from.
PC: ASIM ALI
- Remember, in other contests, seat-sharing talks in the alliance will prove tricky as many regional parties have grown at the expense of Congress. Consequently, ground-level coordination won’t be easy. The key takeaway of the alliance meeting in Mumbai is that its constituents have shown the willingness to accommodate other interests, which is a prerequisite for a broad-based front. In this, they have proved the skeptics wrong. However, there’s still work left on crafting a clear agenda that presents a realizable vision. A mere grabbag of welfare schemes and abstract slogans is unlikely to take the alliance far. If they can do all of that – a big if, mind you – the next Lok Sabha election may well witness a keen contest. And that will be good for the Indian democracy.
