Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the I.N.D.I.A bloc meet in Mumbai.
Credit: PTI Photo
The opposition alliance that wants to give a united fight to the BJP in the 2024 general elections took another step forward at its meeting in Mumbai last week, but it is still a work in progress. Several parties came together and gave shape to the idea of an alliance in June in Patna. At a meeting in July in Bengaluru, the alliance gave itself a name, I.N.D.I.A. It has gone further now by setting up a co-ordination committee and a campaign committee. It has decided to ensure a maximum number of straight fights between itself and the BJP in the upcoming elections. It has tried to avoid contentious issues and find consensus when differing views come up. The co-ordination committee will be the highest decision-making body and has two chief ministers and other senior leaders as its members. The alliance has been gaining members through its meetings and is now a 30-party grouping. The resolutions passed by the conclave, the press conferences and the leaders’ statements have sent out a message of positivity.
The alliance has the most challenging task of agreeing on a seat sharing arrangement. It has modestly said that it will try to present a united fight in as many seats as possible. There is an agreement on mutual accommodation, but a lot of it will be needed in states like West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi and Kerala. Adjustments in terms of numbers are not enough, as there is a need for chemistry to bind the parties together. The alliance has also said that it is preparing a vision document, which will serve as a common minimum programme, and will soon identify campaign points. It has already identified price rise, unemployment and farmer distress as problems to be highlighted. It has deliberately avoided the issue of a single leader for the alliance because there will be no agreement on such a leader, and it will not be wise to project one as a rival to Narendra Modi.
There is a greater sense of urgency now because of talk about advancing the elections and going in for a ‘One Nation, One Election’ system. The time span available for the alliance to join forces, work out a strategy and do the fighting may be shrinking. It has an opponent who has the best and most effective election machinery in the world at its disposal. There is still no certainty if all the parties of the alliance are equally committed to the fight. The biggest challenge for the alliance is to make the people repose their trust and faith in it.