By Dr. Gyan Pathak
INDIA alliance is all set to expand with more political parties on board. A concrete roadmap for general election 2024 is being prepared for the Mumbai meet to be held on August 31 – September 1, in which it would be formalized. Several other issues are also on the agenda which includes content sharing on their digital platforms to jointly counter the digital propaganda of the RSS-BJP.
Mumbai conclave is the third in the series of opposition meet after the first held on June 23 in Patna, and the second held on July 17-18 in Bengaluru. Two more such conclaves would be held in Kolkata and Chennai probably by October to deploy the INDIA alliance fully on the electoral battlefield of Lok Sabah election 2024. Obviously, the alliance does not seem concerned at all about the impending Vidhan Sabha election in five states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram – scheduled to be held by the end of 2023.
However, the BJP is beating about the bush to make INDIA alliance appear developing cracks on their joint prime ministerial face, which has actually never been on the agenda of the alliance, and secondly that the political parties in the alliance are politically at loggerheads in states fighting each other, though creation of joint strategy for state elections has also never been on the INDIA alliance’s agenda.
The alliance is categorically for general election 2024 to jointly take on BJP government at the Centre led by PM Narendra Modi. It is precisely due to this reason the opposition political parties though are in INDIA alliance, have announced contest the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha election in five states separately. Even they contest separately, the Congress and the BJP would be in one-on-one fight against each other, and it could not be advantage BJP or NDA, given the ground realities.
Congress is the chief political party in all the five state elections with upper hand over BJP or NDA in four of them – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram, while it is chief opposition in Telangana against BRS.
BJP’s alliance partner in Mizoram Mizo Nation Front (MNF), the party that sided recently in the Lok Sabha with no-confidence motion of the opposition to to show their “outright distress and opposition to the complete failure of the governments, especially the Manipur government, in handling the situation”. MNF is deeply hurt over the condition of the Zo ethnic people in strife-torn Manipur. It should be noted that BJP shared only 8.09 per cent of votes in the 2018 Vidhan Sabha election in the state while INC could get 29.98 per cent of votes. MNF had bagged 37.7 per cent of votes.
Similarly, the BJP had got only 6.98 per cent votes in Telangana, while INC’s vote share was 28.43 per cent in 2018 Vidhan Sabah election. TRS, now rechristened BRS, had got 46.87 per cent of votes. This explains why MNF and BRS are not yet part of the INDIA alliance. Once 2023 Vidhan Sabha elections are over, both the parties will have no inhibition is aligning with the INDIA alliance since they have developed even bitter relationship with the PM Modi led Centre.
They have been referring AAP for their decision for contesting the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections and future election such as in Bihar or elsewhere, is just a beating about the bush, nothing more, since INDIA alliance focuses on 2024 election, on the one hand and AAP has little presence on other states barring Delhi, Punjab, and Gujarat.
As for INDIA alliance, the first meet held on June 23 in Patna enjoyed participation of 16 political parties including RLD that went unrepresented by the leadership due to personal reasons, the second held in Bengaluru on July 17-18 saw increase of participation to 26. Now in the third meet in Mumbai on August 31 – September 1, about 80 leaders from more than 26 political parties are expected to participate. “A few more political parties will join our coalition. … I wish to unite the maximum number of parties before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” Bihar CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has said, though he did not reveal their names. “We will discuss the INDIA bloc’s strategies for next year’s general elections during the upcoming meeting in Mumbai. Issues such as seat-sharing will be discussed and several other agendas will be finalised,” he said.
INDIA’s Mumbai meet is likely to set up an 11-member coordination committee, and at least five other panels with specific briefs. Though it would discuss the broader approach for seat-sharing across the country for 2024 election, actual state-specific issues would be discussed and decisions are to be made at the state level, according to the sources.
To counter RSS-BJP propaganda machine on digital space, discussions are afoot as to how to put forth a joint mechanism to share contents among the political parties in the INDIA alliance on social media. Mumbai conclave is also likely to finalise its logo.
An informal dinner of the alliance leaders will be offered on August 31, while the formal meeting is scheduled to be held on September 1. First conclave gave birth to a firm resolution to take on PM Modi led BJP in 2024, in the second it was christened INDIA and identified the specific issues, and in the third a concrete roadmap will be decided along with announcement of specific committees. Decision and formulations of the committees would be finalised in two other meets perhaps in Kolkata and Chennai in next two months after which INDIA alliance will be fully ready to be deployed. Once the state elections are over by the end of 2023, the opposition machinery will be fully operational for the great political battle of 2024, the result of which would have far reaching impact on destinies of the people of India. (IPA Service)
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