The single toughest challenge before the I.N.D.I.A. bloc remains the failure of the Congress, by far the leader of the pack, in redefining its political narrative in tune with the times. The raison d’être of the Congress is the relevance of the liberal, secular and often socialistic moorings of the Indian society; the party’s left-of centre policies and undiluted commitment to secular politics have kept it in good stead despite the series of defeats in electoral politics
The show of unity the Opposition displayed in the Lok Sabha last week to defeat the government’s plan to smuggle in its contentious delimitation plans under the garb of women’s reservation was a pointer to its collective strength and strike potential but the Opposition parties may do well to remember that it was an opportunity the government had offered it and that they could seize it only because they had numbers on their side. The real challenge will be to reinvent the common political agenda and win over the people to its side if it were to stop the advancement of the NDA
The I.N.D.I.A. bloc remains the largest Opposition political platform in India though there are parties such as the Bharat Rasthra Samithi of Telangana, the YSR Congress of Andhra Pradesh and the Biju Janata Dal of Odisha which work outside its ambit. The single toughest challenge before the I.N.D.I.A. bloc remains the failure of the Congress, by far the leader of the pack, in redefining its political narrative in tune with the times. The raison d’être of the Congress is the relevance of the liberal, secular and often socialistic moorings of the Indian society; the party’s left-of centre policies and undiluted commitment to secular politics have kept it in good stead despite the series of defeats in electoral politics.
However, the party still believes it is the natural party of governance in India and is yet to come to terms with the reality that the decision on who gets to rule this country is made in the minds of the Indian voter, and not in its leader’s kitchen cabinet. The party often displays a lack of seriousness and cohesiveness in its approach to current politics; neither the party nor its senior leader Rahul Gandhi displays the deftness when it comes to taking on the NDA and its grand narrative.
This thought gets reflected in the party’s dealings with other political forces who share the political agenda with the grand old party. It had no qualms to travel to the brink while negotiating for seats in the Bihar and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but made little effort to win them. The Congress contributed handsomely to the defeat of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar while the party is giving out the message that it is ploughing the lone furrow during electioneering in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu elections are scheduled to take place on April 23; the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha has made just one visit to the state in all these days; he even did not find it necessary to appear on stage with the Tamil Nadu strong man and alliance leader, the DMK’s Chief Minister, Mr M.K. Stalin.
The Opposition must remember that their success in the Lok Sabha last week cannot be easily repeated; the BJP is deft at the appreciation of political developments from its point of view and convince the leaders and the cadre of the same. It has, for the most part of the recent history, played its political card very well and succeeded. The BJP has the knack to convert even the worst defeat into a stepping stone to their victory in the next instance purely on its ability to frame and communicate its political position in no uncertain terms. The Opposition, too, has little option but to define its political agenda and place it before the people before asking them to choose. It’s going to be a play of convictions in Indian politics; no half measures count there.
