Opposition in Disarray

Poll-wind in the country has started blowing in favour of NDA even before a single vote is cast. As we enter the final lap of Battle, 2019, with just a couple of days before the first phase of seven phase general elections, the opposition parties, which talked about unity among themselves for the last couple of years, appear to be more interested in fighting each other, than taking on NDA and its main constituent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). One quick look at all the states of country will stand as testimony to this fact. In Delhi, despite sharing same stage for quite some time, Congress and Aam Admi Party (AAP) could not reach to any seat sharing agreement, though the electoral arithmetic clearly was in favour of such an alliance. In West Bengal, despite several rounds of talks between Congress and Left parties, a final agreement eluded both the sides. In Maharashtra, the state which has 48 seats, the second highest in the country after Uttar Pradesh, Congress though managed to stitch an alliance with Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), made no effort to take various Dalit organisations to its fold which has considerably weakened its chances of putting up a strong fight against BJP-Shiv Sena combine. In Bihar, the Mahagatbandhan is marred by internal squabbles. Last but not in the list is Uttar Pradesh which sends 80 representatives to Lok Sabha. In 2014, BJP grabbed 71 seats while its ally Apna Dal won two. The result of Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-elections beyond doubt proved that if the opposition remains united, BJP dream run in the most populous state of the country would come to a standstill. But strangely Rahul, Akhilesh and Mayawati, refused to read the writings on the wall and talks over seat adjustments broke down even before it could take off. In contrast, NDA managed to keep its fort intact and even poached a few other parties who were in strong opposition against the so called Hindutva agenda of the BJP. Initially, it was thought that no major party would join hands with BJP because of various reasons. But BJP staged a virtual coup by winning back Shiv Sena, the party which two years ago announced that it would go alone in the 2019 general elections. BJP managed to repair its strained relations with the Akalis. In Tamil Nadu, the party formed a formidable alliance with ruling AIADMK and few other smaller parties. BJP even agreed to contest lesser number of seats this time from Bihar just to keep its alliance partner Janata Dal (United) happy. All these have made the electoral battle much easier for NDA against a divided opposition. Surely, things would have been different if the opposition could have shown the same political maturity as the NDA. It was not a matter of which party will be contesting in how many seats. It was the opposition which claimed that the constitution was under attack. It was the opposition which alleged corruption in Rafale deal. Starting from Rahul to Mamata, everyone virtually lampooned the Prime Minister alleging utter failure. But when their time came to deliver the goods, they failed even more miserably than Modi and company. So it will not come as a surprise if voters reject these leaders and their parties in the forthcoming general elections.