Presidential polls a telling tale of Opposition's plight

The last ten days have told the tale of how the Opposition fares in the country -- its fault lines as well as opportunities. They managed to choose a “common” candidate without much rancor and with some speed though irritants were there, which they overcame with lightning speed.

At the same time, it also exposes the lack of talent and people with stature to be chosen as Presidential candidate from its stable as it has to rely finally on a former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, whom the leaders now celebrate for his “anti-BJP” stand in the past four years after he quit the saffron party.

A joint statement issued by the Opposition did highlight their unity forged for the Presidential elections “in a spirit of equality, common commitments and consensus-building through dialogue” and it went on to add that it “will be further consolidated in the months ahead”. The meeting on Tuesday did see the presence of AIMIM, which otherwise is kept out of the Opposition meetings.

Read | Presidential Polls: It’s Droupadi Murmu versus Yashwant Sinha

DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin appeared realistic when he told a top Opposition leader that the unity they were talking about should not be confined to the Presidential elections but enlarged to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, all signals but may not be positive.

The sliding electoral fortunes of Congress appear to have an impact on other parties and several like AAP, TRS and Akali Dal refused to attend a meeting on June 15 citing Congress presence. It did not matter that the Congress was just a guest like them as Trinamool Congress was the host. However, they are now willing to support Sinha.

For the first time, Congress was not in the driving seat though it managed to regain some initiative. Their leaders may not agree but the party’s continuing electoral debacle gave its associates a chance to recalibrate their priorities, prompting the former to take a back seat in the negotiations for the Presidential candidate.

At the same time, it along with the Left parties did manage to make Trinamool Congress agree that its leader Yashwant Sinha should quit the party before he became the candidate.

It did make a terse statement reminding how its president Sonia Gandhi initiated the consultation process after Mamata convened a meeting of Opposition parties to discuss the Presidential election. Congress was unhappy but quickly fell in line finding that their adversarial stand could isolate them.

The Congress went on to tell the June 15 meeting, called by Mamata, that it has no candidate in mind. Don’t forget, in 2017, the Congress played all tricks in its kitty to ensure that its nominee will be the candidate. They seized the opportunity and fielded Meira Kumar as Opposition candidate after the ruling BJP sprang a surprise in Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit.

Also read | Opposition says will consolidate unity in months ahead

Informal deliberations by Pawar before and after the meeting called by Mamata with Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh as well as Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja helped to melt some ice. Pawar took the mantle even as Mamata also agreed to recede to the background. She did not attend the second meeting but managed to make her choice heard even though it was primarly owing to Gandhi’s refusal.

Trinamool Congress leaders believe that they will be taken more seriously now after Sinha was nominated as the candidate. They believe it is only the beginning of their emergence as the main pole in the Opposition scheme of things, as it managed to corner Congress for the first time when it comes to decision-making.

Though it did not remain a spectator, Congress tried to regain initiative by pushing for NCP chief Sharad Pawar, whom several other parties were also inclined to field. But Pawar did not play the ball and suggested Farooq Abdullah, who also declined. Then came Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

While the Left parties were keen and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury was in touch with Gandhi, Mamata also took the initiative to reach out to him. However, the Trinamool Congress has the last laugh with Yashwant Sinha, its original choice, being chosen.