The well-attended rally of the INDIA bloc in Delhi on Sunday gave a hint of what is likely to be the basic thrust of the Opposition campaign. The Ramlila Maidan function saw attendance from at least a dozen parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Shiv Sena-UBT, and various Communist parties, which alleged the Opposition has been denied a level playing field. They demanded that the Election Commission of India intervene and stop central agencies from alleged targeting of Opposition leaders and the “financial strangulation” of Opposition parties. They also demanded the release of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, as well as a probe monitored by the Supreme Court into the BJP’s use of election funds. The pitch was that democracy was under threat from the ruling party, which was using State institutions to choke the Opposition. Besides major Opposition leaders, Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita, and Hemant Soren’s wife, Kalpana, addressed the crowd. If optics mattered, the Loktantra Bachao Rally was a success.
However, politics is more than optics. The issues highlighted by the Opposition are central to democracy and merit a conversation, surely. But does the INDIA bloc now have time on its hands, or the organisation and public trust to successfully amplify its claims on public corruption and institutional capture by the ruling party? The internal contradictions within the bloc persist and continue to impact seat negotiations. The bloc is yet to have a coordination mechanism in place to hold joint campaigns and prepare a common programme. For instance, just as her party representative at the Delhi rally affirmed that the TMC “was, is and will be a part of INDIA”, Mamata Banerjee declared that the Congress-Left alliance in West Bengal was working for the BJP. The chances of the Ramlila Maidan rally becoming another one-off spectacle are very high, unless, of course, the INDIA constituents become more sensitive to the bloc’s larger goals.
At a BJP rally in Meerut on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that he will take the Opposition head-on in its claims. He has sought to make a compelling narrative that the Opposition has come together to protect its “corrupt dynasts”. Which of these narratives will catch the imagination of the electorate is anybody’s guess, but the contours of the fight for Mandate 2024 became clear on Sunday.
