Action plan can unite Opposition

Chief Ministers of two important states have, in recent days, called on opposition parties to forge a united front to take upon the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 elections. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin was the first to write to 37 political parties and leaders to join a “Front to fight the threat of bigotry and religious hegemony to India’s diverse and multicultural federation”. The call from him came on February 2. In the second such initiative, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Chief Ministers of all states ruled by opposition parties to come together and put up a joint fight against the ‘oppressive BJP regime’.

While Stalin emphasized the ‘threat the BJP poses to India’s diversity’, Didi’s letter focuses upon vindictive politics and wide use of Central agencies such as Enforcement Directorate (ED), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) against the leaders of parties in the opposition.

History bears witness to the fact that mere electoral arithmetic does not provide a sufficient glue for unity of opposition parties. Nor can the common grouses against the ruling party suffice to spawn a firm bulwark for a joint front of diverse parties with disparate ideologies. The National Front Governments (1989-1991) headed by V. P. Singh and Chandrashekhar and United Front Governments (1996-1998) headed by Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral were outcome of some such arithmetic and coalitional arrangements. Unstable from the start, they collapsed due to inherent differences only fuelling further disunity among parties that shared the antipathy against the then dominant Indian National Congress. The only difference between then and now is replacement of Congress with the BJP.

Votaries of unity among opposition parties ought to bear in mind that the BJP is no pushover. It is true that it commands over 300 seats in the Lok Sabha with 37 per cent votes of the total electorate. But it is more useful to be reminded that its strength lies in its rootedness in RSS ideology with over 70 years of groundwork, cadrebuilding and, let it be said, sacrifices by way of time, energy, youth and monetary resources. Just as Rome was not built in a day, the edifice of BJP is not the outcome of arithmetic of electoral calculation or chemistry of castes. The analysis of the latest Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh points to vast improvement in the BJP’s voteshare among OBCs and non-Jatav SCs, who were earlier aligned with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party respectively.

Those who feel that national political unity is sum total of coming together of regional parties are sadly mistaken. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) does not see eye to eye with the INC and CPM in West Bengal but a national front, if any, will have to reckon with presence of both the INC and CPM in a pan-Indian alliance. Moreover, the INC is still not reconciled to alliances with regional parties that were offshoots of the Congress in its heydays.

Didi’s call may find resonance among vast sections of people and parties who have suffered at the hands of the BJP’s vengeful action and the populace that decries the bigotry being mouthed day in and day out. But a cogent ideology and action plan is much more integral to building a national alternative than what it intends to oppose. This is where both Didi and Stalin must do some soulsearching and brainstorming.