oppn parties The Opposition: The Only Consensus Is To Bicker Over Everything

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  • 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
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The Opposition: The Only Consensus Is To Bicker Over Everything

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-01-10 09:57:59

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

The fault lines are clearly visible as the I.N.D.I.A bloc parties try to come to an understanding over seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Presenting a united face before the electorate, which will simultaneously project them as a viable alternative to the BJP-led NDA, is the main requisite for any opposition alliance. For this, ensuring one-to-one contests against the incumbent in a majority of the seats, having a strong face to lead the alliance and having a counter-narrative are the main requirements. Sadly, despite holding several meetings of the top leadership of the alliance parties, the I.N.D.I.A bloc has not built a consensus on any of the main issues. In fact, it is the opposite. Leaders of most parties are taking different views and are skewing the pitch. It has failed to appoint a national convener although the buzz before the latest round of talks was that senior JD(U) leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar would be given the charge. The chairperson of the alliance has also not been decided upon.

The scenario as it is unfolding is one of regional parties (although some of them fancy themselves as national parties) versus the Congress. Even the Congress allies, like the JD(U) in Bihar, are protesting against the strong-arm tactics and unreasonable demands of the grand old party. The Congress, on the other hand, has indicated that it will focus on all Lok Sabha seats, belying the hope that it will focus mainly on states (like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Himachal, Haryana and Assam) where it is in direct contest with the BJP and where regional parties have little or no influence. For the other states, it will either contest in seats it has won or is traditionally strong in. But the Congress is facing problems with the AAP in Delhi and Punjab and to some extent in Gujarat, from JD(U) in Bihar, the CPM in Kerala and TMC in Bengal. There are also problems within the alliance between the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav) in Maharashtra (although latest reports suggest that there has been a broad agreement over most of the seats). In Bengal, the TMC has said that it will not 'compromise with the CPM'. At this rate, it seems that there might be an understanding on some seats while a majority of the seats will still have multi-cornered contests, defeating the purpose of having an alliance.

Although it is now clear that apart from highlighting the development projects, welfare schemes and Covid management under its rule, the BJP-led NDA will project the abolition of the triple talaq, the abrogation of Article 370 and the building of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya as its major campaign issues in 2024. It will drill in the minds of the voters that it has delivered on the three main issues in its manifesto. But the opposition has not come out with a counter-narrative till now although less than 6 months remain for the elections. While Mamata Banerjee dismisses the pran prathistha ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22 as a pre-poll gimmick and the Congress has said today that it will not attend the programme as it is an "RSS-BJP event", the other parties are silent on what could be a game changer for the BJP as it might consolidate Hindu votes. Time is running out for the opposition. If they cannot get their act together in the next month or so, they will hand the NDA another easy victory in 2024.

 

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