The BJP Crushes The Opposition By Any & All Means
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-02-14 08:41:22
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
What is being witnessed in Indian politics now, just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due in less than three months, is a battering of the opposition in two ways - the first way is by snaring leaders from other parties and the other is the step by step breakdown of the I.N.D.I.A alliance that never really took proper shape. In both these ways, the ruling BJP is the prominent player and the Congress is the major loser although some leaders who have left the Congress or other parties have preferred not joining the BJP. For instance, Congress stalwart Milind Deora in Maharashtra took the circuitous route by joining BJP-ally Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Congress MLA Baba Siddique joined the NCP. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and the NCP have already split and one faction of both has allied with the BJP for the spoils of office. A couple of days ago, one of the tallest state leaders of the Congress, former chief minister Ashok Chavan who is also the son of a former chief minister and wields considerable clout in the Nanded region of the state, resigned from the party only to join the BJP a day later. There is a buzz that a former Congress chief minister from MP will soon change sides.
Elsewhere, in Bihar, the original architect of opposition unity, Nitish Kumar changed sides once again and formed the government after joining the NDA. Jayant Choudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, swayed by the Bharat Ratna awarded to his late grandfather and former Prime Minister Choudhary Charan Singh, dumped I.N.D.I.A and joined NDA. His party also wields clout in at least 7/8 seats in western UP. There are reports that Shiromani Akali Dal and AIADMK are also considering returning to the NDA fold. With this, the BJP has managed to weaken the Congress and ensured that the I.N.D.I.A alliance is a non-starter. The opposition parties, mainly the Congress, are also to blame for this state of affairs. Instead of sitting at the negotiating table to iron out seat-sharing differences or deputing senior leaders to take it up and coming up with an alternative vision, Rahul Gandhi is busy with his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. He had got it wrong with Rafale in 2019 and he is committing a blunder this time too. His indifference has meant that both the TMC and AAP have refused to have truck with the Congress in states where they rule. Mamata Banerjee has already, snidely, predicted that the Congress will not even get 40 LS seats this time.
But the major part of the blame for the state of the opposition lies with the BJP. Using saam, daam dand and bhed (any and all means), the BJP has been able to make some leading opposition leaders to switch to its party and some political parties switch to the NDA. Although this might bring electoral gains for the party in the short-run, the long term damage to Indian democracy will be disastrous. All democratic jcountries need a strong and effective opposition to keep a check on the ruling dispensation. Sadly, the opposition in India right now is neither strong nor effective.
