Opposition dilemma congress can’t lead anti bjp coalition if it allows regional parties to eat into its vote base

Opposition dilemma congress can’t lead anti bjp coalition if it allows regional parties to eat into its vote base

Congress’s loss in the civic polls in Gandhinagar exemplifies precisely why the national opposition is struggling to dislodge BJP. The latter bagged 41 seats in the 44-member civic body that was considered a Congress stronghold. But the reason for Congress’s defeat was debutant AAP that was largely responsible for slashing the grand old party’s vote share here from 46.9% to 27.9%. And therein lies the opposition dilemma in presenting a united front against BJP. The truth is most of the significant regional parties like TMC, AAP, YSRCP, SP, BSP, etc are offshoots of Congress and fight for the same vote base in their respective states. This means that these parties can only grow at the expense of Congress.

In other words, BJP is pretty much sitting pretty if these regional parties continue to chip away at the Congress vote. Plus, sans any meaningful cross-country seat-sharing arrangement between these parties and Congress, there is no way they can challenge the BJP electoral juggernaut. Thus, in order for the opposition to mount a credible performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it is vital that Congress ups its game. It is only when Congress starts winning again that it will be in a position to bargain for seat-sharing arrangements at the national level.

For that, of course, the party needs to sort out its leadership issue. Without an active, full-time party president, Congress cadre are rudderless and senior leaders – like the G-23 – restless. Unless the party is able to address its leadership question, it will soon be reduced to an insignificant player – many argue it already is. This will be hugely detrimental to Indian democracy as the country needs a strong opposition. Therefore, if Congress sees itself stitching together a large coalition to take on BJP, it needs to put its own house in order. Otherwise, its potential allies are bound to steal its lunch.