The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– September 4, 2023; Day 463

Uniting front: On the INDIA bloc (A group of countries in special alliance)

Opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party alone is not enough to form a national alternative

The third meeting of parties under the banner INDIA — the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance — in Mumbai last week resolved to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election together “as far as possible”. More than two dozen parties announced that seat-sharing arrangements in different States will be initiated immediately and concluded at the earliest in “a collaborative (​involving, or done by, several people or groups of people working together) spirit of give and take”. Participants did not elect a convener (a person who arranges meetings of groups or committees) or unveil a logo but announced five committees to improve coordination among them on various aspects. A 14-member coordination committee will double up (to form a pair in order to do something or to share something) as an election strategy committee, while the four other committees will coordinate campaign, social media, media and research. The INDIA bloc now plans to bring about a vision document which is likely to be released on October 2, Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Plans are afoot (Currently in progress) for five rallies in different parts of the country — Patna, Nagpur, Delhi, Chennai and Guwahati, and a regular meeting of the leaders. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has emerged as the centre of the unity efforts as he bonded with senior leaders of regional parties even at the cost of his own party’s local calculations. Mr. Gandhi is reportedly planning a second leg (A section or portion of a journey or course) of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, this one along a horizontal route through the strongholds (an area in which there is a lot of support for a particular belief or group of people, especially a political party) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

It is clear that these parties find common ground against the BJP, but that alone will not make INDIA a national alternative to the ruling party. Most INDIA parties have their interests defined by the local particularities of their respective regions. Assembly by-elections in West Bengal and Kerala this week are instructive. In West Bengal, the Congress and the Left are together in taking on the Trinamool Congress (TMC), while in Kerala, the Congress and the Left are face to face. The willingness of these parties to have a national plan in the larger interests of society might be appealing to some people, but to some others it could appear as hypocrisy (​behaviour that does not meet the moral standards or match the opinions that somebody claims to have). Optics (the way in which an action or event is seen and understood by the public) apart, the coming together of parties will not necessarily lead to an aggregation of their votes, as some experiments of coalition politics have demonstrated. The differences among the parties on programmes and slogans are unsurprising, but the real challenge lies in winning the confidence of the people. INDIA will have to frame issues well and campaign effectively to emerge viable (Capable of being done with means at hand and circumstances as they are). The BJP is a dynamic (Characterized by action, forcefulness or force of personality) and flexible party, despite its alleged ideological tenacity (Persistent determination). It is responding to the INDIA challenge through political and administrative moves. Being opposed to the BJP cannot be the sole defining feature of INDIA.

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