Oppn unity: Now or never

As the BJP rode to victories in three of the four states where counting of votes was taken up on Sunday, one was tempted to recall the words of Otto von Bismarck that ‘Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable…’

With most exit polls going terribly wrong as far as the results in two states - Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan - were concerned, political analysts were left wondering about the Congress strategy in the two states where the party was expected to return to power.

One question which comes to mind is whether the Congress did enough to strike the right kind of alliances in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where it was face to face with the saffron juggernaut?

Was it a sense of over-confidence that did the party in and saw it reeling to one of its worst poll performances in ‘mini’ general elections in recent years?

Or was it the adamance of the leadership to keep its INDIA alliance partner like the Samajwadi Party, and the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) of Mayawati at arm’s length, instead of working on the ‘art of the possible’ by exploring alliances with these parties and others?

This could have helped to bring them a few thousand extra votes in many constituencies. It is a fact that 5000-10,000 votes in an Assembly constituency can make or break the fortunes of many candidates.

The SP is not a force to dismiss in many constituencies in Madhya Pradesh bordering UP nor is the BSP a party which can be wished way in many seats in Rajasthan.

The fact that many candidates belonging to ‘other parties’ have won in Rajasthan goes to prove that with the right kind of tie-ups, the Congress tally in these states could have been much higher.

The disastrous loss also brings to mind the question of leadership. In Karnataka, it was the Siddaramaiah – DK Shivakumar combine and the confidence they instilled in the state’s electorate besides the five guarantee schemes which won the poll battle for the Congress.

So the obvious question: Did the frequent face-offs between CM Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy, Sachin Pilot take the sheen off the Congress government’s performance in Rajasthan?

In Madhya Pradesh, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, despite not being projected as the CM face of the BJP, proved to be the biggest asset for the BJP with women folk enthused by the Ladli Behna Yojana.

That apart, question are also being raised over the competence of ageing Congress leaders like Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh?

Would things have been different if the Congress had been able to identify a younger and more dynamic CM face? Chhattisgarh is the biggest shock for the Grand Old Party and goes to prove that corruption charges, can do a lot of damage.

The Mahadev app row in which allegations were made that crores were paid to CM Bhupesh Baghel, have surely hurt his reputation as an astute administrator.

With just four months left for the parliament polls, the latest results are an eye-opener for Opposition parties which are part of the INDIA alliance that unless they get their act together, they will find it difficult to dent the BJP’s vote bank or its seat share.