Is the reported ‘postponement’ of the coordination meeting of the INDI Alliance at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi, which was to be held on 6 December, an indication of its unravelling, or just the beginning of a realignment of forces? The deferment of the meet became inevitable when bigwigs like Akhilesh Yadav, Nitish Kumar, MK Stalin, Mamata Banerjee and Hemant Soren were reported to be ‘not available’ on the day. It is obvious that the dominant role of the Congress in the alliance before the assembly elections will be openly challenged, including the basic premise that its leader would be the future prime ministerial candidate.
In fact, members of the alliance have even praised the manner in which the BJP conducted its recent election campaign. This could indicate a reassessment of positions regarding national politics and the coming Lok Sabha contest. In a situation where the public mood seems heavily in favour of the NDA under PM Modi, would it make sense to concede seats to other parties merely in the remote hope of being part of a future government? This is a critical issue for parties that are mostly confined to a state or region. Denying party loyalists the opportunity to contest for the sake of what seems a difficult objective cannot be good for the cadre’s morale or the political future.
It is for the Congress now to considerably dilute the ‘package’ on offer to keep the alliance intact. At the present, however, it seems paralysed by the shock of defeat and, as ever, is failing to function as a modern day political party. If it actually believed in the democracy its leader Rahul Gandhi speaks of in foreign lands, the entire leadership that was at the forefront of the campaign in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh would have tendered their resignations by now. Not one has done so, despite the clear message communicated by the electorate that leaders like Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh, Ashok Gehlot, et al, belong to a bygone era. Even Kharge and the Gandhi siblings should receive a severe rap on the knuckles. A new crop of leaders needs to be brought to the fore. If signs of this change do not become visible, the leaders of other parties are unlikely to feel attracted to a bunch of ‘losers’.
If the concept of the alliance survives, it is possible that a leader from some other party could be handed over the leadership, but it seems doubtful. The bloc seems set to fizzle out even before it acquired maturity.