The Shape of Opposition Unity: The Story of Five Blind Men Searching for an Elephant

 

With the possible exception of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), almost every non-NDA leader nowadays chants the mantra of opposition unity.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor and other party workers during Bharat Jodi Yatra in Thiruvananthapuram district

A strong Congress is a key pillar of opposition unity, say leaders of the age-old party, whose top leader Rahul Gandhi is on a 'Bharat Jodi Yatra' which, they believe, will make him "sensible" and defeat him. Will help reunite the party. with people. Not necessarily, say leaders of several opposition parties, who claim that opposition unity can take shape with or without the Congress.

With the possible exception of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), almost every non-NDA leader nowadays chants the mantra of opposition unity. But it is like the story of five blind men searching for an elephant. As in the case of the elephant, every leader has made a unique impression about opposition unity and views it differently. With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections going a year and a half, the opposition remains a divided house on the question of uniting against the BJP.

The question regarding the "face" that will emerge as a challenger to Narendra Modi is a controversial one and perhaps rightfully so because of the many candidates for the role. Almost everyone is imagining his chances - the latest to join the list is Telangana Chief Minister and TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has announced that he will soon launch a national party.

Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal - all of them are eyeing a national role for themselves. And then there is the Congress - the biggest player in the opposition bloc and the natural contender for it. The point is that despite its steep electoral decline, the Congress is still the only party in the opposition at the national level. Others will have to carve that space to challenge the BJP.

But irrespective of their position, every such leader always has the same answer on the issue of prime ministerial candidate of the opposition. His standard answer remains "the face is not important...the opposition is unity". But what is the opposition unity they envision: is it a Congress-led front, a Third Front or even a Fourth Front?

Congress's idea of ​​opposition unity is largely confined to Parliament. On the ground, it is looking at state-specific alliances - with DMK in Tamil Nadu, RJD plus JD(U) in Bihar, NCP and Uddhav Sena in Maharashtra and JMM in Jharkhand. But other parties have different views.