Omkar Dattatray
The two rival political alliances and arrangements of NDA and I.N.D.I.A are staunch opponents of each other. But the hard reality is that while NDA is broadening with each passing day while I.N.D.I A is contracting day by day and the later is shrinking which is against alliance dharma. The NDA is a grouping of 38 political parties and I.N.D.I.A is the Mahaghatbandhan of 26 political parties which has been formed recently in year 2023,while the NDA has been formed way back in May 1998 as a coalition to fight the general elections. The INDI Alliance has been formed with the objective to fight Modi’s NDA and BJP and to defeat Modi’s designs to again come to power at the centre at the third time in succession .But the difference between the two alliances is that while NDA is doing positive and developmental politics and INDI Alliance is doing only negative politics and one point agenda of INDI Alliance is only to counter Modi and anyhow to obstruct him from reaching again to power at the centre.
It seems Modi and his NDA has magnetic attraction and so political parties get attracted towards it and the INDI Alliance is shrinking with each passing day. The old friend Nitish Kumar with his JD(U) have again allied with NDA. Similarly Akali Dal is also coming close to NDA and is again aligning with it. In the same way Chandra Babu Naidu’s Telugu Desam is coming to NDA fold before general elections.
Earlier JD(S) has aligned with NDA. Today RLD has aligned with NDA and it shows that new and new parties are aligning with NDA. Thus NDA is working on the doctrine of making alliances with more and more regional parties.
Thus NDA is expanding while INDI Alliance is shrinking day by day as the aligning partners are drifting away from the INDI Alliance and it is a matter of serious concern for this newly formed grouping .It is very unfortunate for INDI Alliance,that its co founder and architect Nitish Kumar with his JDU has parted ways with INDI Alliance and has jumped in the bandwagon of NDA which is no less than a shock wave for INDI Alliance.
It is very unfortunate for the INDI Alliance that the very same leader who has toiled a lot and burned mid night oil for the INDI Alliance has parted ways with INDI Alliance and has joined with the NDA his political rival.
The politics is very strange as Nitish Kumar had earlier declared that he would prefer to die than align with NDA and Home Minister Amit Shah has said umpteen times in past that the doors of NDA are permanently closed for Nitish Kumar and one wonders what has happened to such extreme standing and declaration of the rival groupings.
It has proved the old quote that in politics everything is fair and there are strange bed fellows in politics. INDI Alliance has been formed for unseating Modi and defeat his ruling party’s electoral juggernaut. The acronym ,which stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance ,comprises India’s previously fractured opposition parties that are aiming to keep Modi governments increasingly powerful sway at bay.
At stake, the alliance says ,is the future of India’s multiparty democracy and secular foundations that critics say have seen assaults from Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP.
There is infighting, groupism and factionalism in INDI Alliance and with each passing day partners are leaving and deserting it and joining NDA and thus when INDI Alliance itself is unstable as fissures have erupted it and so how can it fight the mighty NDA at the end of the day.
Partners are deserting INDI Alliance and not only this but are also joining NDA fold for greener pastures and thus has the arc hectic of INDI Alliance deserted it within few months of its formation and joined NDA and it gave a strong jerk to INDI Alliance and it is now clear that this combination of opposition parties will find it difficult to fight the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The different partners of the INDI Alliance combination want to project their leaders as the prime ministerial candidates and as such there are as many prime ministerial faces as the number of allies and thus there is complete lack of unity in the opposition bloc and therefore it cannot fight the NDA at the time of general elections.
There are certain indications that in coming days some other partners will desert INDI Alliance and jump to NDA club and this will expose the fragility of INDI Alliance opposition bloc and if it happens, it will led the opposition alliance to be on the ventilator and it will spread doom for opposition parties.
For keeping together the partners of INDI Alliance bloc should learn and be ready to sacrifice for the cause of unity in the rank and file of the opposition alliance and then and only than it can dent the image of DNA in the general elections, otherwise not.
INDI Alliance bloc should learn lesions from NDA and forge unity to fight the NDA at the hastings . Otherwise this INDI Alliance experiment is bound to fail as it cannot defeat NDA in Lok Sabha elections.
Therefore what is needed most in INDI Alliance is that there should be no clicks and no crakes in the opposition bloc but all the partners should learn the doctrine of accommodative politics and be ready to sacrifice for the unity of INDI Alliance and then and then only it can fight the NDA in general elections. But as of now ,nothing is so visible in INDI Alliance bloc as the dissidence and mutual infighting and in this way it cannot fight NDA in upcoming elections.
Thus instead of parting ways with INDI Alliance, the alliance partners should work together so that it can defeat NDA in the elections which are coming nearer. So instead of deserting the INDI Alliance fold, the alliance should try to admit more and more regional parties in its fold so that it can defeat NDA in the general elections. Normally ,chief ministers resign to fight another day.
However, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, leader of Janta Dal united or JDU is different. He has resigned four times in the last decade ,only to be sworn into same job within hours. In yet another flip-flop ,he rejoined NDA. Not for nothing is Paltu Ram (Mr Somersault). The latest turnaround is the result of compulsions, both of his old adversary and new found love, the ruling BJP and of his thwarted ambition.
In short the JDU chief Nitish Kumar has parted ways with the INDI Alliance and has joined NDA and it has made chinks in INDI Alliance and it has made it clear that Nitish Kumar’s deserting INDI Alliance will make no difference to it and it will fight the upcoming general polls with redoubled effort.
The INDI Alliance should encourage new entrants in the INDI Alliance fold and this will be the test of its relevance to fight the general elections and only then it will be able to dent the image of NDA and BJP .At present all that can we say is that the NDA is expanding and INDI Alliance is shrinking /contracting.
(The author is a columnist,
social and KP activist).
