Test of unity

Test of unity

Deputy chairperson election boils down to testing opposition unity and NDA’s Rajya Sabha strength.

The Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson’s election was supposed to be a test of opposition unity but BJP has surprised the fragmented opposition by fielding a JD(U) candidate. JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar has maintained cordial relations with opposition parties despite crossing over to the NDA side. He has also personally reached out to Naveen Patnaik whose BJD with nine MPs will determine the outcome of what is on paper a close contest. Even Shiv Sena, hardly on the same page with BJP, may vote JD(U). BJP has, for once, succeeded in showing it will not take allies for granted.

Not surprisingly, opposition parties that were vocal about building an anti-BJP front and pressing for a non-Congress candidate have developed cold feet allowing Congress to field its own man and ensure a contest. The diffidence in opposition ranks is surprising given they can give BJP a tough fight in Rajya Sabha. But BJP may have identified a weak spot in the incipient coalition. With the battle not directly against BJP, interest seems to have fizzled out among the ragtag grouping.

This has remained a recurrent problem for the opposition. Other than a desire to protect their turfs no opposition party save for Congress and Trinamool Congress sees political advantage in turning every issue into a prestige battle. But here, even Trinamool Congress did not exercise its option to pitch a candidate, perhaps to keep bridges open with Nitish. But Congress and those leading opposition unity efforts like Sharad Pawar appear to have missed a trick again by not reaching out to Naveen Patnaik before Nitish. Clearly, sating the big egos is critical if opposition unity for 2019 is to get off the ground. The election will give NDA not just a chance to test opposition resolve but also its constantly improving Rajya Sabha floor strength.