Hinged on modi

Hinged on modi

Opposition leaders network in Delhi, but national mahagathbandhan is still inchoate.

Despite two big gatherings in Delhi in as many days the reality is that the contours of the opposition unity project remain undefined. Since the impressive congregation of all opposition leaders at HD Kumaraswamy’s gala swearing-in ceremony in May in Bengaluru there has been no real movement on the mahagathbandhan front though many photo opportunities came and went. On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s hunger strike saw Congress president Rahul Gandhi joining him on stage.

But an Aam Aadmi Party invitation to its ‘Save Democracy’ rally on Wednesday was a no-go area for Rahul, though leaders like Mamata Banerjee, HD Deve Gowda, Naidu, Sharad Pawar and representatives of other regional parties were in attendance. Political calculations and not national perspective or a capacity for sacrifice have inspired these joint appearances, which are inchoate perhaps by design. Parties opposed to BJP also need to fight each other in many states.

The difficulty that leaders like Rahul, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata and Mayawati have in attending each other’s rallies signals the existence of multiple axes and the lack of an agenda beyond ousting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. SP patriarch Mulayam Singh’s desire to see Modi back as PM also reveals another contradiction in opposition ranks: some have done business with BJP in the past and may be amenable to a more accommodative BJP. The likes of Mamata and Naidu have another compulsion to join protests in Delhi and network with opposition leaders. By telling their supporters that they can meet fire with fire, regional leaders are attempting to defang Modi’s aggressive forays in their bastions. In summary: There has been some progress in stitching alliances in the states to counter BJP but a national coalition has proven tough with many prime ministerial ambitions at play.