‘Oppn must realise that Cong’s Bharat Jodo has to do well for Oppn Jodo’

Instead of uniting, the Opposition parties… in particular, one and all are extremely busy in displaying individual strength. If Nitish Kumar had visited Delhi and had a busy line up and had a script ready to meet HD Deve Gowda, NCP’s boss Sharad Pawar et al… Mamata Banerjee recently again said in a roaring rally in Kolkata that Khela Hobe ‘Again’. Addressing a new party programme, she went on to say, “The Opposition (parties) are now together. Akhilesh (Yadav) is there, Hemant (Soren) is there, Nitish (Kumar) is there and we along with our friends will fight the BJP in 2024. BJP is flying high as they have near 300-mark seats. Even Rajiv Gandhi had 400 seats but had to lose. The states which I have mentioned over there will make them lose at least 100 seats.” The remark against Rajiv Gandhi (mind it) came when the Congress embarked on its ambitious Bharat Jodo campaign! What Mamata actually meant by mentioning Rajiv only time will say, but this remark certainly does not boost the prospects of Opposition unity. Post-Nitish’s mega announcement to unite the Opposition parties against the Saffron might, Mamata very interestingly said, “The Trinamool Congress is the only political party with an “ideology” for which it will fight in the 2024 Lok Sabha election to form a “pro-people” government. Will this one-upmanship of each Opposition leader in the country really be of much help in the larger context to actually unite the Opposition forces in the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha? Recently, the Congress’ ambitious Bharat Jodo programme is the talk of the town. For the last almost 8 years now, the Congress hasn’t shown much to display the party’s vision. Even the Opposition parties while exhibiting or rather showcasing their own USP have not in particular shown much “faith” to the fact that Congress could lead the fight against the BJP. Also, several stalwarts of the Congress have left the organisation and scores of others have joined their leaders in the exit route. Political analysts are also questioning the future of the Grand Old Party if things continue in this manner.

In the context of the prevailing condition of the Congress, its Bharat Jodo campaign actually means a lot for the party’s political future. For the Congress, the campaign has to have huge consequences otherwise other political parties will seize the opportunity. The BJP hence is closely watching the Bharat Jodo campaign. The Saffron might is also aware of the fact that even today in the bigger perspective, if the voters of the entire country consider any party as the Opposition, it is Congress and any Opposition conglomerate without the Congress, would not be complete in the context across the regions and spectrum of voters. Even today, it may be recalled that whatever be the status and condition of the Congress, in several states even today, the BJP will have to fight the polls against the Congress… For example in Karnataka, in Chhattisgarh and in Rajasthan. There are Opposition leaders who have made it big in their own way, however, in the subsequent polls their acceptability has been seen too across the country especially in the recent Assembly polls. Though one may argue that AAP has done exceedingly well as far as the other political parties are considered. But in most of the political “get togethers” the AAP supremo has not taken part. So has been the case with TRS and the BJP chief. If this has been the bonhomie, the unison of the Opposition conglomerate can be anybody’s guess.

Till date, only the BJP had passed the majority mark since 1984, however, take a look at the numbers. In 2014, the BJP managed to muster not more than 31 percent of the voter share which increased to help the Saffron party register a 37 percent mark in 2019. However, on the other hand whenever Congress managed to wrest the majority mark, it has also registered more than 42 percent of the vote share. The BJP at the Centre hence is aware of the fact and is keenly watching every move of the campaign, especially in each state. Even in the recent past, we have seen how the Opposition parties failed to gel during the Presidential polls and how the candidate was named after huge deliberation. Subsequently, during the vice-presidential elections, we are finally aware of how the Trinamool completely abstained from the voting process even as they (Opposition parties) had put up a candidate against Jagdeep Dhankar. And the outcome of the Vice-presidential polls is known to all. In this context, the importance of the Bharat Jodo campaign of the Congress should have been of importance and consequence to these regional stalwarts and it is interesting to see how they (Opposition leaders) put their reported egos aside and come together.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

ROBIN ROY  The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India