While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has a lot to celebrate after the results have been declared of the elections to the Assemblies in a Union territory and four states, the INDIA bloc is facing an existential threat. The difference in outcome lies not just in terms of the number of states now ruled by each bloc but also the impact it will have on their unity.
The BJP is elated as it adds West Bengal, a state which sends 42 members to the Lok Sabha, to its kitty. The party will find this useful in the next Lok Sabha election. That it has managed to retain Assam and Puducherry comes as an added advantage, and gives the saffron party a chance to present a map where it extends its influence undisturbed from the west to the east of the country.
The INDIA bloc’s set back is almost existential. It has lost three chief ministers who were in the forefront of the challenge the bloc has mounted against the NDA. A BJP nominee will replace Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal while TVK leader Vijay, who has not yet spelt out his political allegiance, comes in the place of M.K. Stalin in Tamil Nadu. Mr Stalin had taken an unwavering stance against the BJP and its Hindutva politics. Pinarayi Vijayan’s successor in Kerala will belong to the Congress which is a minor relief. But the CPI(M) leader had taken on the Union government on many counts, including taking the issues of its alleged discrimination in the devolution of Central share in finances and the misuse of the office of the governor to strangle the elected state governments to court.
One major threat to the bloc has come from Tamil Nadu where the Congress, the main pillar of the INDIA bloc which contested the election as an ally of the DMK, has decided to back the TVK as the latter scrambles to muster a majority in the state Assembly and form government. The Congress may point to several contingencies including the need to keep the BJP out of power in the state to buttress its arguments for breaking free from the company of the DMK but the party is in fact leaving behind one of its steadfast and reliable allies. The state sends 39 members to the Lok Sabha, and unless the Congress can guide Mr Vijay’s party into the INDIA fold, it will prove to be a costly experiment in the long run.
It is said there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics but only permanent interests. The INDIA bloc was formed in 2023 to fight and stop the Hindutva juggernaut of the BJP nationally. If it is still serious about this aim, then it will have to get its act together and look for ways to expand its base. A last-minute ad hoc arrangement will hardly be sufficient to take on the well-oiled machinery of the BJP which has plans to introduce massive changes to the way India is governed.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
