Opposition Unity: Will The Congress Agree To Withdraw From Some States?
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2023-05-16 08:40:23
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It is amazing how the victory in Karnataka has changed the perception of the Congress party in the mind of one of its staunchest critics. TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had, just a couple of months ago after a bypoll loss in the state had alleged that the Congress and the CPM were working with the BJP to defeat its candidates. She had then said that she will have no truck with the Congress and will go solo in West Bengal in 2024. But now, after Congress' impressive win in the southern state, she has said that she is willing to support the party elsewhere if it reciprocates in West Bengal.
What Banerjee fails to realize is that despite the rise of the regional parties in their respective or even a couple of states, the Congress is the only national alternative to the BJP. It is in direct contest with the BJP in 10 states and in alliance with other parties in 3 or 4 other states. It has all-India infrastructure and despite its recent decline, still gets nearly 20% of votes on a pan-India basis. Yes it is currently not poised to get a majority on its own as regional parties have become strong and collectively send more MPs to the Lok Sabha. But in the efforts to forge opposition unity, the Congress needs to be given the pole position. Although Banerjee's idea of having the strongest party in a state fighting the BJP one-to-one is excellent and should be taken forward, but that would mean that the Congress will have to withdraw from all the states where regional parties have become strong. It is difficult to see the Congress agreeing to that as it would mean that it will then be restricted to a few states.
As a national party that has governed the nation and most of the states for many years and the reduction of role is not likely to be acceptable to the Congress. It will obviously fancy its chances in a state like Bengal (or any other state where regional parties are now strong) if the electorate gets disenchanted with the regional party. If it withdraws from such states in the larger interest of opposition unity now, it will find it difficult to make its presence felt when the opportunity arises in future. This is one hurdle that the opposition parties will have to discuss and cross.
