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With the sounding of poll bugle, it’s time to assess the strength and weaknesses of the two major political fronts in India vying for power in the ensuing elections. Among these formations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appears to be better organised, while INDIA, the alliance formed by a number of opposition parties is yet to take final shape as they are undecided on friends and foes. The INDIA bloc of more than twenty major political parties with strong to moderate presence in different parts of the country, vowed to put up a united show to dethrone BJP. But their effort to put up consensus candidates in the majority of Lok Sabha constituencies ended abruptly as the parties battled for power without offering anything substantial to their coalition partners. Bitterness over seat sharing led Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the person who orchestrated the move for opposition unity, to rejoin NDA. At the same time, BJP also managed to bring back the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh into its fold after six years of separation with the aim to reap good dividends from this southern state. The party has also managed to quell dissent over seat sharing with the breakaway sections of Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). On the other hand, limited opposition alliance in many states of the country has ensured multi-cornered contests instead of a direct fight between the ruling party and the opposition. Moreover, the opposition parties have so far not been able to project a formidable face against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Currently, it appears that the situation favours NDA more than the opposition block as the forthcoming general election is a battle of a cohesive unit against a disjointed force. On studying the political pulse of the country, various pre-poll surveys have predicted an easy win for NDA. Finding its back against the wall, Congress is working to make the poll narrative a battle for democratic values nurtured by the country since Independence against dictatorship. In the coming days, issues like Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), electoral bonds, one nation, one election, etc. will continue to dominate the poll campaign. Will the opposition be able to use these issues to corner the ruling NDA? If the opposition parties aim to do so, they should highlight the fall out of such decisions with facts and figures rather than reducing the sensitive issues to mere political rhetoric. Otherwise the election may turn out to be a one-sided affair in the absence of a strong and cohesive opposition block.