Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 9: The die is cast for the disintegration of the opposition INDIA bloc in which the parties had come together to fight against the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and succeeded in stopping the ruling party from going “400 par” to become a super power.
The INDIA bloc is likely to hold a meeting after the Delhi polls. The big issue that may be addressed in this meeting is who will be the face of the alliance. And it looks like no one wants the Congress to be the face. This leaves the party isolated and the alliance dishevelled, while Rahul Gandhi’s position as leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is unable to be the glue that binds them all together.
The unravelling is almost complete. The INDIA bloc is now a pale shadow of what it was when it came together ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections last year. The immediate catalyst was the Delhi assembly polls, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Shiv Sena (UBT), and Samajwadi Party (SP) pledging their support to the Aam Aadmi Party against the Congress whose presence in the elections for the national capital will make it a triangular contest providing advantage to the BJP.
These parties have made it clear that their choice is the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP and they consider it the better partner and in a better position to defeat the BJP. The TMC sources point to the Congress arrogance during the Lok Sabha elections to put up candidates in West Bengal without forming alliance with the Trinamool. “How many seats did the AAP contest in West Bengal? Zero. But, the Congress and the Left together fought on six even when they should have stayed away. So, we know whom to trust,” the TMC said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi made it clear that her party will support the AAP. “We feel that if anyone is giving a strong fight to the BJP, it is the AAP. So, we will support them in the Delhi polls,” she said.
But, the reason behind this lies in Maharashtra, where Uddhav Thackeray is still upset with the Congress. He had fought hard to contest more seats within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) during the state elections. Despite appealing to Rahul Gandhi and his party not to attack Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, as it hurt both the NCP (SP) as well as his own party, the Grand Old Party refused to listen to him. The Sena (UBT) is also learnt to be considering to dump the Congress from the MVA.
The most ominous sign comes from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), where Tejashwi Yadav has said the opposition front was only for the Lok Sabha elections and the all the parties were free to stich alliance or fight solo in the state elections depending on their respective strengths.
“It is not unusual. In Lok Sabha election, the main motto was to defeat the BJP in election and the alliance of INDIA bloc was limited up to that motto. In such a situation, it is not unnatural for the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party to have conflicts,” Yadav said in relation to the Delhi elections, Yadav however added, “As far as Bihar is concerned, we have been together from the start.”
RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tewari, however, added fuel to the fire. Mr Tewari said the Congress should prepare to go solo in the Bihar assembly polls slated for later this year. “Congress should not aim for just 70 seats in Bihar, they should prepare for all 243 seats. Anything less will not help them assist anyone effectively,” Tewari said.
The RJD spokesperson added that the Congress needed to understand the ground reality. “Previously, they were given 70 seats, and we all saw what happened. Congress needs to understand its real position on the ground,” Mr Tewari said. The Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan retorted with equal vigour. “If anyone underestimates Congress, Congress will take them even more lightly,” he said.
The war of words between the allies has attracted comments from ruling Janata Dal United (JDU)-led NDA in the state too. The JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan said the public comments from RJD and Congress leadership show there was no United INDIA bloc. “The way CLP leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan reacted to Tejashwi Yadav’s comments, it is clear that INDIA bloc in Bihar is on the verge of extinction. They would have lost even if they fought the elections together but as separate entities they don’t even realise how much of a struggle it would be,” Ranjan said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also said on Thursday that at present there was no clarity about INDIA alliance’s leadership or agenda and the Opposition bloc must be dissolved if it was just formed for the Parliament election last year,
The National Conference leader was responding to a question on Delhi Assembly polls, which is witnessing a three-cornered fight between the AAP, BJP and the Congress. “I cannot say anything about this because we have nothing to do with Delhi elections. AAP, Congress and the other parties on the ground must decide how to combat the BJP. As far as I remember, there was no time limit to the INDIA alliance. Unfortunately, no INDIA alliance meeting is being organised so there is no clarity about leadership, agenda, or our (INDIA bloc’s) existence… They should wind up the alliance in case it was just for the Parliament elections..,” Mr Abdullah said in reply to a question on the Delhi election and INDIA alliance.
Over the past few weeks, leaders of the AAP and Congress have been targeting each other in their campaign for the capital contest. While Congress leaders have accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of corruption and poor governance, AAP has alleged that the Congress is hand-in-glove with the BJP.
Questions regarding the future of INDIA bloc and its leadership have emerged in the months following the general election, which saw a united Opposition make big gains. In the aftermath of the Congress suffering poll setbacks, questions have also been raised if the main opposition party should lead the INDIA bloc. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has offered to lead the bloc if given an opportunity and several partners have backed her.
Earlier, Mr Abdullah had said the Congress must not take the leadership for granted. “By virtue of being the single largest party in Parliament, and also having the leader of opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the fact that they have a pan-India footprint, which no other party can lay claim to, they are natural sort of leaders of an opposition movement,” Mr Abdullah said. “Yet there is a sense of disquiet among some of the allies because they feel the Congress is “not doing enough to justify it or to earn it or to keep it. That’s something the Congress might wish to consider,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kejriwal quashing the BJP’s canard that he was scared and would contest the Assembly elections from two seats for safety, said on Thursday that he would contest the elections from one seat only. A three-time sitting MLA from New Delhi since 2013, Mr Kejriwal this time is locked in an intense triangular contest against the sons of two former Chief Ministers of Delhi.
While the BJP has fielded former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma’s son Parvesh Verma, Congress has given ticket to Sandeep Dikshit whose mother Sheila Dikshit was a three-term Chief Minister of Delhi. “I am contesting one seat only,” Mr Kejriwal said at a press conference when asked about BJP’s claims that he was going to fight from a second seat out of fear of losing from New Delhi.
The AAP leader’s clarification came after BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya claimed in a post on X that fearing his imminent defeat from New Delhi, Mr Kejriwal is making “baseless allegations” about voter list in his constituency and “talking” about contesting from two seats. The AAP leaders have accused the BJP of filing applications in bulk from different constituencies, including New Delhi, for the deletion of thousands of AAP supporters’ names from the electoral roll.
