INDIA bloc & Opposition disunity

WHEN the ruling establishment, ensconced at the Centre for a little over 12 years, manages to even partially stave off challenges with optics, rhetoric and institutional ballast, the Opposition's pushback gets inversely weakened. The BJP-led NDA coalition faced its first major trial from a nascent, non-political entity, and not an Opposition party — it found itself at sixes and sevens because an emerging demography outside the circumference of the constituents it had cultivated threw endless dares.The BJP had no choice but to open its dated toolkit to answer the provocations. Delhi hosted the BRICS summit and the presence of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin took care of the ocular; the 7.8% GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2026 was celebrated, although there was scepticism over the data. Even the victory of the ABVP, the RSS' student arm, in the Delhi University student elections was hailed as a "fitting" endorsement of the Union government by GenZ and a rejection of the "subversive" politics advocated by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Until the recent exposé revealed the differences in the Election Commission over the CEC's allegedly questionable conduct of the SIR exercise and the resulting disenfranchisement of millions of voters, it looked like the Modi government had put its crises behind.However, the real story lies in the Opposition and whether it is fit and fine to work around the problems bedevilling the party in power. If the CJP is demanding of the government, it does not afford relief to the Congress and its satellites and outliers. It is a weight on the Opposition, which is apprehensive of the ingenuity and resources summoned by GenZ leaders to create a new demography. Their inventiveness was demonstrated by the roaches who occupied the headspace and intuitively understood the political proclivities of the burgeoning new voters. A generation separates Abhijit Dipke, 30-year-old CJP founder, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, 56, who, like PM Narendra Modi, tries hard to engage with GenZ and fares only marginally better. Conventionally, it was taken for granted that even past 70, a politician could aspire to occupy top posts, but the CJP has triggered an irreversible churn.The INDIA bloc met on September 30 in Delhi to think of plans to confront the Union government on the EC's alleged mendacity, and try and restore a modicum of order to the electoral procedures before the next slew of elections. The objective's significance could not be disputed: for the non-BJP parties, West Bengal was an eye-opener in as much for the EC's arbitrary deletion of over 22 lakh voters as the targeted disenfranchisement of the minorities and other groupings deemed to be "loyal" to the TMC. If this state of affairs continued, the Opposition's fear was that the coming polls in UP and Punjab were as good as lost to the BJP, which is being held culpable for manipulating and gerrymandering the demography.The only outcome from the discussions was to stage a "Save Democracy" march in all districts and it is expected to culminate in a demonstration outside the ECI office. Such symbolic gestures are the staple of any Opposition's playbook, be it the BJP or Congress. However, the Opposition's response carries a message that could eventually take away from the government's accountability in "sponsoring" the EC's actions. It is unlikely that CEC Gyanesh Kumar would have acted unilaterally. By attacking him, the Opposition has given an alibi to the government to shield itself from censure, a point the CJP has seized upon. Dipke's allegation is that the buck does not stop with the CEC, decried as a "puppet of the government".TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, whose party's name and symbol stand frozen by the EC, displayed her desperation to stay afloat in INDIA. After blowing cold towards the Congress and the Left Front in the years she ruled, she tried to ingratiate herself with the Congress, proposing that the main Opposition party could have the PM's post after bringing its allies on board. Mamata was stopped in her tracks by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who reminded her that the gathering was not called to debate the PM's post but to "save democracy".In the motely group that met this week, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was absent as he was preoccupied with the SP's Rajya Sabha nominations, which yielded a surprise after Dhanraj Nathwani, scion of Reliance Industries executive Parimal Nathwani, was named as a second candidate. Nathwani senior was elected to the Upper House as an NDA-backed candidate from Jharkhand earlier this year, but the cross-party affiliations of father and son did not bother Akhilesh.The move was evidence of the individual strategies working in the INDIA bloc. Akhilesh is keen to refurbish the SP's pro-corporate credentials, which got lost in his hang-up over the "Backward caste, Dalit and minorities" compact. Tamil Nadu's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, a Congress partner, did not show up. The CM, C Joseph Vijay, walked cautiously on the CEC's removal demand. The Congress' erstwhile ally, the DMK, is more forthright, but it is estranged from the INDIA. The Aam Aadmi Party stayed away, in keeping with its position to distance itself from the Congress.Mamata's suggestion to rope in "non-aligned" forces like the BJD, YSRCP and the BRS found no takers. These parties have a history of colluding with the BJP since 2014 and would not wish to throw away their famed "neutrality" to make common cause with an Opposition formation whose trajectory remains unclear.The Opposition, and more so, the Congress, will have to work out the fundamentals. How will it engage with the CJP if it seems that the roaches will emerge as a more credible and voluble proponent of the "Save Democracy" cause than the legacy parties? As the CJP is capable of stealing the Opposition's thunder, Rahul Gandhi and his associates will have to muster all skills at their command to ensure that INDIA hangs together and does not work at cross purposes.

INDIA bloc & Opposition disunity

As the CJP is capable of stealing the Oppn’s thunder, Rahul Gandhi will have to ensure that the INDIA bloc does not work at cross purposes

Radhika Ramaseshan

INDIA bloc & Opposition disunity

As the CJP is capable of stealing the Oppn’s thunder, Rahul Gandhi will have to ensure that the INDIA bloc does not work at cross purposes

Radhika Ramaseshan

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