By
Arun Srivastava
Incongruities
have appeared on the mahagathbandhan horizon over seat sharing among partners
and new entrants to the alliance. These are likely to hurt the opposition unity
and could even help BJP. The ‘rebellion’ of BSP chief Mayawati with SP chief
Akhilesh extending oral support could have serious implications.
But
the grand alliance leaders tend to play down the threat. They attribute
Mayawati’s stand to her one-upmanship game with the BhimSena and its chief
Ravan and secure her claim to be the custodian of dalit votes and their natural
leader. But this is not so simple. The Bhima incident that has been unfolding
in Pune for last four days has made it clear that Mayawati is on a losing
track. On paper she might claim to be the dalit leader but the reality is that
she has lost the clout.
In
MP and Rajasthan she had fought against Congress. Now she is resorting to arm
twisting. The Congress leadership should be thanked for respecting her demand.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has spoken against the RSS chief’s demand for the reason
that he does not intend to alienate the urban people. But if Sangh sources are
to be relied, they are planning to organise Kar-Seva for the construction of
Ram Mandir. As a first step, the Sangh cadres will try to give a face lift to
the site. They may not like to precipitate the issue as any such action would
create problems for the Modi government and also antagonise the common people.
His
rejection of the ordinance route will help Sangh Parivar to raise the issue in
a more vociferous manner for attracting the hardcore Hindutva elements. In
fact, just after Modi’s statement the frontal organisations and cadres have
made it clear that they are not going to wait for eternity. They will strike at
the right time.
One
thing is absolutely clear that the 2019 election will be fought on rural
issues, especially on the plight of the farmers and peasants. This means that
after many years the rural issues will dominate the election scenario.
Although the Congress has won
elections in three crucial states of the Hindi heartland, it is still not in a
position to outwit the BJP and revive the old glory of the party. Rahul Gandhi,
who had to face jibes and insults at the hands of his political adversaries,
proved that he has come up to face the challenges and set his own agenda. The
choice of Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot as chief ministers has sent the right
message to the older people who are the backbone of the party.
At
a time other political parties are either not getting younger people or are
facing decline in the support base of older people, Rahul has been able to
achieve a good mix of the two. This will put a major challenge to Modi-Amit
Shah combine to ensure that the BJP retains power for the second time at the
Centre.
There
is no denying the fact that Rahul has emerged as the natural leader of the
opposition, but challenges before him are arduous. With BSP and SP not willing
to join hands with Congress, some leaders are of the opinion that state level
coalitions would be the best option. The Congress in consultation with other
parties may release a common minimum programme at national level, but the task
of forming the coalition should be left to the regional parties. This strategy
will ultimately help the Congress. Rahul must ensure that the smaller regional
parties enjoy complete say as they have their own interest and compulsions. By
offering to take care of the needs of the smaller parties, the Congress can
really play the role of the major partner. (IPA
Service)
The post Opposition Unity Not As Easy As It Appears appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
