The Congress’s defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan has put the limelight back on the INDIA alliance. The Opposition alliance, which began with a bang with a few high-profile meetings, ironically remained in a state of hibernation even as the political temperature soared in the run-up to the Assembly polls. The months leading up to the polls and the campaign brought to the fore the differences among the leaders and the weakness in the alliance. A joint Opposition rally, which was planned in Bhopal, did not fructify. Even crucial matters such as seat-sharing or a joint manifesto have shown no signs of progress in the last three months. A hurriedly convened meeting of party leaders on December 6 was downgraded to a meeting of floor leaders after top leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that they would not be able to join.
On a shaky wicket
The campaign made it apparent that the INDIA alliance is on a shaky wicket on the subjects of seat-sharing and an ideological common ground. While Mr. Yadav had an acrimonious exchange of words with Kamal Nath after the SP and the Congress failed to broker a seat-sharing deal in Madhya Pradesh, the Sanatana Dharma episode featuring DMK Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin put the alliance on the back foot. More recently, DMK MP Senthilkumar’s ‘gaumutra’ remark created anxious movements for the alliance. Congress leaders such as MP Karti Chidambaram, who called the statement “unparliamentary”, rushed to diffuse the situation. The two problems are related to an extent. While the Sanatana Dharma and gaumutra episodes are a sign of the alliance’s inability to establish a firm ideological common ground, the bitter war of words over seat-sharing only furthers the criticism of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the alliance is nothing but an opportunistic formation. With three months of inactivity, and with general elections less than five months away, time is running out for the INDIA alliance to fix these problems at the earliest.
