Opposition leaders gathered in Patna last week to forge unity before taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next year’s general elections, but cracks within appear to be widening, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress attacking each other.
AAP wants the Congress to back its protest against a central ordinance on Delhi’s governance before joining hands with it, even as the older party grumbles about AAP speaking against its leaders in Rajasthan. This is emblematic of various contradictions in the opposition that make it difficult for it to put up a credible fight against the BJP. In 2019, the BJP won 224 of its seats with over half the constituency’s vote, so even an opposition front with common candidates will not suffice to unseat the ruling party without a swing in votes away from it.
Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was a success in its own right, but its precipitation of such a swing is yet to move towards being in evidence from just a Congress hope. The opposition can fancy a shot at power in 2024 only if its notion of unity goes beyond seat-sharing to mounting a poll campaign that works. Its well-wishers see possibility in politics as the art of doing what seems impossible.
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Updated: 26 Jun 2023, 10:54 PM IST
