Arvind Gupta
A look at the past experiments of Opposition struggling to get around, all had one thing in common, they were all short-lived and miserably failed experiments. Opposition is again trying a united front, though it is still no more than an amorphous entity, and remains short of a strong common agenda to build a narrative around. Now, as the BJP juggernaut rolls on and on, there is a similar push back from the other side.
Compared with the infrastructural developments all over the country, the ever intelligent voter believes that opposition front together is just a gathering of those who are working on one agenda, to promote corruption as they believe in “their family first and the nation as nothing”.
The credo of democratic politics is ‘for the people, by the people, of the people’ but these dynastic parties go by the mantra ‘of the family, by the family, for the family’ for them their family is first and the nation nothing. People are saying that this gathering is to promote corruption. It’s very obvious in the way that these parties can ignore whenever there are any acts of corruption, kidnapping or law and order breakdown. The moment any agency initiates action against corruption by any one of these parties, they all band together to allege victimisation, with no thought given to the acts of commission. For example, the opposition parties have given a clean chit to the DMK despite corruption cases in Tamil Nadu. The Left and the Congress are also mum on Panchayat poll violence in West Bengal, and left their own suffering cadre to die.
Today once again the mood of the country is very clear, as it has made up its mind to re-elect the NDA Government in the 2024 polls. At this time, people who were responsible for the bad situation that the country found itself in have opened their ‘shop’. These people want to keep the democratic polity and constitution of the country chained. It was all because of them, for years the country was in the grip of hatred, scams, appeasement, black hearts and dynastic politics.
India’s fractured opposition parties have joined forces in a rare hope of unity and formed an alliance to unseat the most popular Prime Minister since independence, Narendra Bhai Modi and his nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Last month Modi’s political opponents tried to create a buzz and dress down by announcing a new alliance, called I.N.D.I.A to unseat Modi and defeat the ruling NDA.
The acronym, which stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, comprises India’s previously fractured opposition parties that are aiming to keep the Modi Government’s increasingly powerful sway at bay. At stake, the alliance says, is the future of India’s multiparty democracy and secular foundations. The opposition alliance is playing on its acronym, saying it will be Modi versus the country in 2024 polls.
The 26-party alliance, I.N.D.I.A, led by the Indian National Congress party that once dominated the country’s politics, includes some powerful regional parties that are direct rivals to each other in some states. The parties are also beset with ideological differences and personality clashes, and seem undecided on whether to cede space to other groups in regions where they hold sway.
India’s political Opposition has so far remained fragmented by prime ministerial ambitions, stated or otherwise, of leaders such as AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee of the TMC and Congress’s Rahul Gandhi. Even right before the Patna conclave, the formula of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is sweating it out to bring anti-BJP forces into one camp to defeat Modi, is facing opposition. For example, the AAP has said it wouldn’t contest this year’s polls in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan only if the Congress didn’t fight the national polls in its strongholds of Delhi and Punjab. Similarly, Mamata Banerjee isn’t going to leave out too many seats for the Congress in West Bengal. This is when Nitish has proposed that in 2024, there should be a joint Opposition candidate, backed by all anti-Modi forces, for each of the BJP faces.
So, what is the BJP doing? If the Opposition is scrambling for unity, the BJP is strengthening within the NDA. This follows directions from PM Modi during a recent meeting with CMs and deputy CMs of BJP-ruled states.
And the results are showing. The Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, which exited the NDA in 2018 over the Centre’s refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh, is returning to BJP-led alliance. Naidu is no longer a PM hopeful. Also, when he quit the Modi Government five years ago, he thought the move would help him win the southern state. But it didn’t happen.
Naidu has reportedly met BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to discuss an alliance ahead of the Telangana polls later this year and of course 2024. Talks are also on to welcome back Punjab’s Shiromani Akali Dal, which quit the NDA in 2020. Both TDP and the Akalis were founding members of the NDA. Reports also had it that the JDS in Karnataka could join the saffron grouping.
But it’s not only the big parties that the BJP may want to see back in the NDA. There are smaller groupings, with past NDA links, which could prove significant because of their caste appeals. One such party is Lok Janshakti Party (Chirag Paswan faction).
Modi will seek re-election to a third consecutive term in a national vote next year at a time when India’s global diplomatic reach is rising. HOURS AFTER the opposition alliance INDIA submitted no-trust motion against his Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked a “third term” in office saying that he is retaining power as the PM of India in 2024 as he announced that India will become third biggest economy of the world in his third term.
“Bharat ki vikas yatra rukne vaali nahi hai. Aap jaante hain ki hamare pehle term ki shuruvat mein, Bharat world economy mein dasve number pe tha… Doosre term mein aaj, Bharat paanchvi sabse badi economy hai. Aur yeh track record ke aadhaar par… main desh ko yeh bhi vishwas dilaoonga ki teesre term mein, duniya ki pehli teen economies mein, ek naam Bharat ka hoga. Yeh Modi ki guarantee hai”
With following major achievements in last nine years under his belt, no opposition can even stand forget the question of defeating Modi in 2024: Pradhan mantra Ujjwala Yojana (LPG Revolution), Holistic growth with rise in higher Education Institutions, Impetus to Road Infrastructure under Bharatmala Pariyojana, Empowering Women by transformative decline in Maternal Mortality Ratio, Ayushman Bharat Yojana (Making quality medicines affordable for all), Digital Revolution (Transforming India’s economy through Digital Transactions), Revolutionizing Medical Education in India, The road to peace (North-East India’s journey to end insurgency), Har Ghar Jal (Jal Jeevan Mission), Record growth in the number of Airports in India, City Gas distribution network (Energizing Households), From Endangered to Flourishing (India’s 9-year wildlife conservation journey), India’s wetland wonder multiply, Laying down the tracks of development & connectivity, Railway Electrification (Paving the way for a sustainable future), Rejuvenating India’s cultural and spiritual heritage, From Idea to Innovation (igniting the start-up landscape in India), Enhancing Urban Mobility (India’s Metro Rail Transformation), India’s Techade (Exponential growth of broadband connections), India’s commitment to food security, PMAY (U) results in over 800 percent increase in urban houses.
(The autor is State Secretary & Prabhari District Reasi, BJP Jammu & Kashmir UT)
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