INDIA bloc constituents who had come together to defeat Hindutva brigade of BJP are political rivals who had contested against each other in past electoral battles. Old rivalry cost them the recent poll battle in West Bengal.
Veteran leaders all, the election result of the state is a pointer to their political immaturity. Electoral arithmetic in terms of vote percentage is a pointer that division in the INDIA camp paved the way for the maiden saffron triumph.
In the recently held Assembly election in West Bengal, the combined vote share of Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) and Congress exceeded that of the BJP. The winner BJP emerged with 45.84 per cent votes while the Trinamool Congress trailed behind with 40.80 per cent coupled CPI(M) obtaining 4.45 per cent and Congress getting 2.97 per cent.
Such arithmetic should have produced a fiercely competitive election. Yet ant-BJP votes fragmented again.
The INDIA bloc’s weakness is disunity. It is not organisational weakness or ideological confusion.
Confronted with the practical necessity of unity, INDIA bloc partners reverted to old rivalries. This was worsened with regional egos and personal calculations.
It is contradictory to what these regional satraps, big and small had argued. Indian democracy faces an unprecedented centralisation of power, weakening of institutions and growing pressures on federalism made up the theme of the Opposition chorus.
The irony is difficult to miss. Opposition
leaders are now crying from the rooftops that the BJP poses an existential threat to the constitutional order.
But the fact remains these leaders have over the years treated each other as their greatest enemy. In doing so they overlooked the common adversary-the BJP. .
Mamata Banerjee repeatedly projected herself as the singular face of BJP resistance. In doing so, she refused to accomodate the Congress and the Left within a broader state level arrangement.
It led to tactical isolation. But it masqueraded as TMC’s political strength.
Small wonder, it stood in the way of any electoral adjustments being cobbled. The TMC would not allow the ingress of any other INDIA bloc member into what it considered to be it’s own turf
The result of this proprietorial mindset was predictable though unexpected to the ruling dispensation of the state. Mamata Banerjee lost to her principal political rival Suvendu Adhikari at Bhabanipur, an Assembly segment which was “Trinamool country” till the other day and where the BJP nominee is a newcomer.
The hostility among the INDIA bloc partners was not one-sided in West Bengal. Both the Left and the Congress carry bitter conflict with the TMC at the grassroot level.
Smooth transfer of votes within these parties cannot be guaranteed. But a coalition seeking to challenge the BJP cannot survive if every regional leader insists on unquestioned dominance within his/her state while expecting solidarity elsewhere.
Opposition’s inability to subordinate ambition to strategy saw the BJP enjoy smooth sailing in West Bengal Assembly elections. The election results of the state should serve as a warning to the INDIA bloc.
Sans humility, compromise and a willingness to concede political space for a larger objective, even favourable vote shares become meaningless statistics. Federalism is stated to be in danger in a BJP dispensation has been the rallying cry of the Opposition.
Federalism matters. So does Opposition credibility.
And it is unwise to consider cross section people who are recipients of social benefit projects as vote bank. People can think for themselves unlike the deposits in banks.
People will rally behind INDIA bloc leaders who speak the language of national resistance while practising coalition politics themselves. Credibility of a leader will ensure people’s support to his/her political outfit.
The Opposition floundering in ideological tempest and organisational directionlessness seems to have at last sighted land. After bitterly criticising Mamata Banerjee during the poll campaign, Rahul Gandhi in his X-handle have expressed solidarity with her after the declaration of results.
The Opposition in West Bengal and elsewhere in the country has to bury their differences to regain credibility. Otherwise it’s survival will be at stake.
