The arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the alleged liquor policy scam provided a perfect peg for nine political leaders to shoot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging misuse of central agencies to target Opposition politicians. Describing the raids on Sisodia, which began months ago, as a ‘prolonged witch-hunt’, the letter said, “The blatant misuse of central agencies against the members of the Opposition appears to suggest that we have transitioned from being a democracy to an autocracy.” The signatories to the letter were Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, K Chandrashekar Rao, Farooq Abdullah, Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Uddhav Thackeray, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. They pointed out that in the last few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of raids on Opposition politicians while at the same time the investigative agencies have gone slow on cases against those who have joined the BJP such as Himanta Biswa Sarma and Suvendu Adhikari.
This letter like many others bemoaning the alleged crushing of democratic ideals will probably be ignored by the ruling dispensation but here was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate Opposition unity to take on the might of the Centre. However, among the conspicuous absentees in this joint Opposition effort were the Congress, DMK, Left parties, Nitish Kumar’s JD-U and the JD-S of H D Deve Gowda. Since the BJP came to power in 2014 almost all Opposition parties have been subjected to raids by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the tax authorities. The Centre has been accused of deliberately letting loose its agencies to embarrass Opposition politicians. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were questioned by the ED in 2022 over alleged money laundering linked to Young India’s takeover of Associated Journals Ltd which ran the National Herald. The letter to PM Modi is perhaps the first cohesive effort to confront the Central government. It would have been so much more meaningful if the entire Opposition had backed the initiative instead of being bogged down by petty differences. The Delhi Congress has been gunning for Sisodia while the Central party unit has condemned the arrest. This will surely create a great deal of confusion among the party cadres as well as the general public. With a little over a year left for the big political battle, the Lok Sabha elections of 2024, the Opposition is showing little intent in its avowed purpose of unseating the BJP. Already the Trinamul’s Mamata Banerjee and the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav have declared that they will go it alone in 2024.
In Karnataka where the Congress has a credible chance of swinging the Assembly polls in its favour as the BJP government of Basavaraj Bommai is perceived as a corrupt and non-performing one, the presence of the Aam Aadmi Party in the fray may well reduce its chances of winning. Similarly in Rajasthan, where the Congress faces the twin challenges of anti-incumbency and rampant infighting among the Gehlot and Pilot camps, AAP will only play the spoiler when it enters the fray. The inherent contradictions among the Opposition parties such as the unbridgeable differences between the Left and Trinamul or Congress and AAP because their fight is for the same constituencies combined with the super egos of several regional satraps make any unity effort untenable. Talk of a third front minus the Congress to take on the BJP is unrealistic and past experience has proved that such a concept is unworkable. The Congress has to be part of the equation because in several parts of the country it is the only real challenger to the BJP. However, more and more regional parties are wary of ceding space to the grand old party which for many is past its prime. The pulls and pressures of political exigencies make a cohesive Opposition front ahead of the 2024 polls a near impossibility. If the results of the recent elections in three north-eastern states are any indicator, the BJP’s poll juggernaut is unstoppable. Halting the Modi wave will take a Herculean effort. There is no alternative face to strike any resonance among voters. The only hope is an unlikely post-poll alliance like in 2004 when the India Shining campaign of the BJP received a rude rebuff from voters and disparate Opposition parties cobbled together a coalition government.
