oppn parties Pre-Poll Or Post-Poll Alliance: Is Opposition Unity Possible At All?

Story Of The Day

Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About Junk Food Near Schools

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Pre-Poll Or Post-Poll Alliance: Is Opposition Unity Possible At All?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-02-21 08:18:39

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

On Saturday, Bihar chief minister and ally Nitish Kumar made an ostensibly simple request with the Congress party. Nitish asked the Congress' permission to go ahead and start corralling opposition parties in a camp to forge opposition unity. But the Congress took offence. On Sunday, the Congress came out with a statement that said that it did not need reminding that it had to play a lead role in opposition unity. For effect, it added that it had already started the process with Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra and the floor coordination exercise in the Budget session of Parliament over the Adani issue. It further said that the Congress allegiance to opposition unity cannot be questioned and it will discuss the issue with all seriousness in the upcoming Raipur plenary session of the party. The party also took pot shots at some opposition parties (although, it seems, the reference was mainly for the TMC) which it said were "two-faced".

The Congress, despite its bravado, knows that it is very difficult for the party to take the lead in forging opposition unity. This is mainly due to the fact that despite being anti-BJP, many regional opposition parties, like the TMC, the BRS and AAP, are more concerned in protecting their turf and do not wish to accord any importance to the Congress. That is why on Monday it said that opposition unity will have to be via post-poll tie-ups as it believes that an all-encompassing, pan-India opposition unity before the 2024 polls is difficult. It is good that the Congress has, belatedly, recognized this fact. With Mamata Banerjee and K Chandrasekhar Rao embarking on solo efforts to unite the opposition and with many opposition parties willing to unite minus the Congress, the role which the party can play in pre-poll opposition unity is not clear. In fact, given the current situation, the Congress will likely turn some parties away from uniting if it takes the lead.

But what the Congress is suggesting - a post-poll alliance of like-minded parties - will also not be easy to achieve. For starters, some regional parties will not agree to give Congress the pole position even after the polls, more so if the number of seats it wins is close to or lower than one or more such regional party. Further, with several senior leaders in the fray, the question of leadership will not be easily settled. Given the fact that BJP wins with just 37.36% of the popular vote (as per 2019 Lok Sabha election figures), strategic pre-poll alliances which do not divide the opposition vote is the best way to counter the BJP. But presently, the fault lines in the opposition are too deep to make that possible. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Growth Without Jobs Is a Warning

Growth Without Jobs Is a Warning

 Delhi Curbs: Has The Government Panicked?

Delhi Curbs: Has The Government Panicked?

In Depth

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Editor's Pick

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.