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Informist, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025

 

By Kuldeep Singh

 

NEW DELHI – The cracks within the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance seem to be widening with the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress attacking each other in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections. Some of the constituents of the bloc have held the Congress responsible for the friction, with some even calling for the alliance, which was formed ahead of last year's Lok Sabha elections, to be disbanded.

 

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the alliance must be wound up if it was meant only for the general election. "Unfortunately, no I.N.D.I.A. alliance meeting is being organised, so there is no clarity about leadership, agenda, or our (I.N.D.I.A. bloc's) existence," Abdullah was quoted as saying by a news agency. "They should wind up the alliance in case it was just for the Parliament elections."

 

Abdullah is not the only one. Senior I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have raised questions about the future of the opposition bloc.

 

This is not the first instance of differences within the bloc. During the Winter Session of Parliament, disagreements were visible within the bloc with the Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress not participating in protests against business tycoon Gautam Adani. The two parties cited lack of coordination within the bloc and blamed the Congress for it.

 

The alliance was formed in June 2023 with the motto of "BJP hatao, desh bachao" ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It suffered a jolt when Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar switched sides and rejoined the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Kumar's volte-face showed the alliance in poor light and gave rise to questions about coordination in the bloc.

 

The I.N.D.I.A. bloc, however, did much better than expected in the general election, winning 234 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. More importantly, it brought the BJP below the majority mark of 272 seats. The Congress, which won 99 seats, is the largest party in the bloc.

 

Differences within the bloc came to the fore during the assembly elections held after the general election. The Congress and AAP contested separately in Haryana and suffered a defeat. In Delhi again, AAP and the Congress are fighting each other, further deepening the divide. AAP and the Congress had fought the Lok Sabha elections together in Haryana and in Delhi.

 

AAP has warned that it would speak to other I.N.D.I.A. constituents to remove the grand old party from the bloc. Former Union minister and Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das, however, said a national alternative is not possible without the Congress. "On the current scenario, I would say that everybody has to work as per political necessity," he told Informist.

 

Political analyst Alok Srivastav said there is a need to decide the alliance's agenda. He said all the constituent parties must chalk out a roadmap for assembly elections as well.

 

Many constituents of the bloc believe that the Congress, as the largest party, should be more accommodative to keep the alliance intact. Recently, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja also put the onus for unity on the Congress.

 

However, Congress Lok Sabha member Saptagiri Ulaka said it cannot be the sole responsibility of the Congress to keep the alliance intact. "We (I.N.D.I.A.) didn't have any understanding at the state level. At the state level, parties can contest," Ulaka told Informist.

 

On the Delhi tussle, Ulaka said the Congress has a footprint in the Union territory, which it ruled for a long time. "When AAP can go to Haryana to contest the polls, where it has no base, why can't we contest elections in Delhi?" Ulaka said. "It was AAP that started attacking us from the very beginning. I guess they were not interested in forming an alliance in Delhi. We contested the elections in alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand."

 

The constituents of the bloc will hold a meeting after the Delhi polls, an AAP leader said. There are differences within the bloc and it is important to resolve them to avoid disintegration of the alliance, he said.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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