INDIA bloc gets down to work

Five months after 28 parties came together to form the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), the bloc had its first productive session on Tuesday, where leaders discussed issues including projecting a prime ministerial face and deadline-bound talks on seat-sharing. Ironically, the glue for the bloc this time may have been provided by the ruling dispensation, with its backing for the suspension of MPs (143 of them) from Parliament. It also allowed breathing space for the Congress, which escaped scrutiny for its lacklustre performance in the recent assembly elections in Hindi heartland states. In fact, the centrality of the Congress to the bloc was inadvertently endorsed by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, when they proposed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the PM face of the bloc. Kharge, the seasoned politician he is, smartly deflected the idea, for any sign of endorsement of the plan could trigger tensions within the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and perhaps, even within the Congress; he said it was premature to deliberate on the subject before the elections are won.
Indications, however, are that the INDIA bloc, despite the many hiccups, is likely to stick together. Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Mamata Banerjee said she was willing to negotiate seat-sharing with the Congress and the Left in West Bengal. The offer, if accepted, will turn elections in West Bengal into a bipolar battle — the BJP benefited from a multi-polar contest in the state in 2019 to win 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats — though it remains to be seen if the CPM will play ball. On its part, the Congress has announced a five-member panel that includes senior leaders Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel to discuss seats with allies. In states such as Uttar Pradesh, the Congress seems to be making realistic assessments of its strength.
However, it will require more than seat-sharing and a PM face for the INDIA bloc to challenge the BJP. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin hit the nail on the head when he asked about the INDIA bloc’s possible strategy to counter the BJP’s Ram Mandir plank. The BJP is not a one-trick pony, surely, but a battle-ready party that has a charismatic leader, populist welfare schemes, a sharp social agenda, and an aggressive nationalist stance. The INDIA bloc will need countervailing ideas to attract voters. The bloc is yet to figure these out, though elections are due in April.