Oppn a house divided in presidential election

As evident during the presidential election, Opposition unity is at an all-time low. Despite several assertions and demands, the Congress (read the Gandhis) seems to be in no hurry to revive the UPA. It has been over 18 months since Ahmed Patel passed away. Sonia and Rahul have not propped up an effective political manager to reach out to other Opposition parties and give the UPA a new lease of life.

Not evenly poised: Between Yashwant Sinha and Droupadi Murmu, the non-NDA parties chose to hedge their bets as per their political compulsions and expediency. PTI

Rashid Kidwai

Senior journalist and author

The outcome of the presidential election was a foregone conclusion, given the BJP-led NDA’s strength in Parliament and several Assemblies. The election would go down in history as another sorry chapter for the Opposition and the Congress. The implications of the presidential contest are many. Apart from an obvious demoralising effect, the Opposition is all set to remain fragmented and work at cross-purposes before and during the 2024 General Election. The ruling NDA, on the other hand, seems determined to derive electoral benefits and find traction among tribal voters spread over Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and other states.

Tied down by the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) questioning of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, the grand old party again remained preoccupied with internal disquiet. The Congress could neither put up a candidate of its own nor take the lead in the selection of the combined Opposition’s nominee. There were several misses too. Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, who had a theoretical prospect of uniting around 49 per cent of non-NDA votes in the presidential contest, opted out quickly. Farooq Abdullah, another veteran, excused himself. In the Congress stable, there was no dearth of the likes of Ghulam Nabi Azad, who could have made the contest high on optics, but the Gandhis — Sonia and Rahul — showed little or no interest in seizing the initiative. Behind the scenes, there were reports of bad blood between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Pawar over the choice of former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.

By the time the votes were cast, two political parties that were seen backing Sinha’s nomination had switched sides. Uddhav Thackeray and Hemant Soren may have had compelling reasons to back NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu, but the Congress looked every bit uncomfortable. The Congress is part of the Soren government in Jharkhand, but after March 10 (when the Assembly poll results of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur were declared), it is having uneasy relations with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Soren even refused to allay Congress concerns during the recently held Rajya Sabha polls, but the Congress leadership chose to look the other way. Similarly, the Congress’ ties with Thackeray-led Shiv Sena are complex. Following the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and the ‘split’ in the Shiv Sena, the Congress is dragging its feet on snapping ties. It was in November 2019 that the Congress had joined a government in Maharashtra, headed by the Shiv Sena. The move had led to protests and objections from the Congress’ Kerala and Tamil Nadu units, but in the Sonia-Rahul-led Congress, extreme ideological positions are seldom taken.

As evident throughout the presidential election, Opposition unity is at an all-time low. Despite several assertions and demands, the Congress (read the Gandhis) seems to be in no hurry to revive the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and appoint its convener. It has been over 18 months since Ahmed Patel passed away, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have not propped up an effective political manager to reach out to other Opposition parties, hold parleys and keep up the façade of unity.

The Gandhis have remained cold and indifferent towards asking either Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee or Pawar to be the UPA convener. The Gandhis have no reason to feel insecure as far as the political leadership of the party is concerned, which is firmly with them.

If Mamata can be accused of grandstanding and getting ambitious, the Congress also has to discard any notion of ‘greatness’. After all, West Bengal is the third state after Delhi (2015 and 2020) and Andhra Pradesh (2019) where the party has drawn a blank in the Assembly polls in recent years.

Had ‘Mamata for UPA convener’ got Sonia’s nod, Rahul could have focused more on parliamentary matters and organisational matters, while Priyanka Gandhi would have concentrated on her role as a campaigner.

It is an open secret that the UPA has been dormant since 2014. The UPA had come into existence when a Congress-led alliance was forged in 2004. This rainbow coalition continued till the Manmohan Singh government got voted out in May 2014. The enormity of the defeat was such that the UPA, as it had existed during 2004-14, was not resuscitated. Nor did it hold periodic deliberations since then. The non-NDA parties, however, did come together often in the Assembly polls of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal etc. Historically, the Congress has had alliance partners in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir.

Clearly, the idea of an umbrella of Opposition parties has not been revived. The fault lies at the Congress’ doorstep, even as the BJP hopes to continue its electoral success against a divided Opposition.