Oppn unity: Consensus in sight?

There finally seems to be some kind of convergence on the idea of opposition unity with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar remarking that the Grand Old Party should be the fulcrum around which opposition unity should be built ahead of the 2024 parliament polls. Nitish’s comment came ahead of the crucial Congress plenary in Chhattisgarh from February 24 where another crucial issue – that of holding an election to the Congress Working Committee – would also be debated.

There is no national consensus yet on the issue of opposition unity or the identification of a mascot to unite regional and national parties against the BJP-led NDA. With Nitish hinting that the Bharat Jodo Yatra has provided the much-needed boost to the Congress, it’s now up to the Congress to deliberate on this and come up with a plan for a national opposition front.

From the south to the north, there are opposition parties in power in several states that include Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh. The opposition has enough leaders of stature who can do their bit in stitching together such a front with the Congress as the central pillar.

But while Nitish may have no reservations about having the Congress as the lead party, there are others like West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that may not be so open to such a suggestion. These are parties that strongly feel that yatra or no yatra, the Congress as a political force is on the decline and has already proved this in the two general elections in 2014 and 2019.

Nor are they confident enough after analysing the polls experiences they have had that Rahul Gandhi can be the catalyst for a massive wave of opposition to dethrone the BJP from the seat of power. But does the opposition really have an alternative other than to build itself around the only party that continues to have a national presence other than the BJP? Leave aside AAP, which is in power in two states, it is only the Congress and BJP that can boast of a panIndian presence with strong party organisations in all states.

The critical question no doubt is who will lead a national front of the opposition if it is formed with the collective efforts of all parties? Chief Ministers like Mamata Banerjee and K Chandrasekhar Rao have made no secret of their desire for a greater role in national politics, but their realm of influence remains largely confined to the states where they reign supreme – West Bengal and Telangana. That brings up the question of whether Rahul Gandhi after his successful Jodo Yatra, could be the best choice the opposition has to fight and beat the BJP in 2024.

Rahul may probably be the only option the opposition has but his projection as the unanimous choice is sure to cause heartburn in some quarters for not all are sure whether he can be the effective foil to the Modi-Shah combine. Maybe, the best thing the opposition can do now is to forget the issue of selecting a mascot and forge unity in every state, so that there is a buffer to the BJP.

There are precedents that the opposition can draw comfort from – in 2004 after the Congress-led UPA swept to power, it was Dr Manmohan Singh who was chosen for the PM post after opposition to the choice of Sonia Gandhi as PM. And, Dr Singh did not lead the Congress poll campaign – it was Sonia who did it. That seems to be the only way the opposition can move forward in its quest to depose the BJP-led coalition from power. A leader will spring up as it has always happened in the past when the circumstances are ripe enough