- The Indian political landscape was buzzing with anticipation, excitement, and high expectations as a result of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s efforts to unite opposition leaders under a common platform to take on the might of the Bharatiya Janata Party before the general elections scheduled for 2024. This is not an isolated experiment by any means; every general election sees such efforts from opposition political parties wishing to stymie the growth of the ruling dispensation at the Centre. The jury is still out on how far those experiments were ultimately successful in achieving the stated goals. Nonetheless, the initiative continues unabated.
PC: File Image
- Understand how the political narrative unfolds in the country, as only a few parties can truly be called national, with many regional parties dotted along various ideologies. As it stands, the Indian political landscape is primarily divided between communal and secular parties. Furthermore, we must contend with left, right, center, left-center, and right-center leanings, which further muddy the already muddy political narrative. To be sure, the BJP will not be the sole opposition party for several regional parties. In addition to the BJP, the Congress faces direct competition from other parties in several states. As a result, finding a mutually agreeable common platform to take on the BJP at the Centre is a difficult task.
- As a result, it was unsurprising to see several regional bigwigs skip it when seventeen opposition parties gathered in Bihar recently. It is not difficult to understand why leaders like KCR, Jagan, and Naveen would prefer to keep their local influence separate from the rest of the opposition as the best strategy without joining forces with the rest. In other words, the opposition parties, who were conspicuously absent, were making contradictory calculations. The BSP, led by Mayawati, is the least influential. Between 2007 and 22, the number of UP assembly seats fell from 206 to one. In contrast, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, and K Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS are in control of their respective states.
PC: Anand Vardhan
- If by smart steering they hold onto this position, then the 18th Lok Sabha shall see them getting visiting cards from both sides of the aisle. Odisha hasn’t had a chief minister since Patnaik took office in the twenty-first century, but he remains the favorite to win the next election. He’s gotten stronger over time. When the Bengal Chief Minister visits, he advocates for the country’s federal structure to be strong and permanent. In Telangana, KCR has paused its opposition unity drive in the aftermath of the Karnataka result, which has infused Congress with new vigor. In short, the road to prosperity for Patnaik, KCR, and Jagan does not currently pass through Patna. As a result, the unity effort has already encountered a stumbling block in the form of these missing stalwarts.
