The idea that was INDIA

In its recent opinion poll survey, India Today Mood of the Nation Poll- the INDIA bloc is likely to bag 38.3 per cent of votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.The Congress alone may win 19 per cent of the vote share, while the BJP is likely to clinch 39.6 per cent of the total vote share. In terms of seats, the 38.3 % which opposition parties separately could translate into 166 seats. On the other hand, the BJP-led NDA which could bag 39.6% votes is likely to win 355 seats. This is likely to fall well short of the “400 paar” target claimed by Modi. The poll was conducted between December 15, 2023, and January 28, 2024. On the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has done its homework well and has stuck to its game plan of focussing on its strength – using the one sided and biased electronic and print media; government agencies who are on stand by to file charges or issue summons on opposition leaders who matter to good use. Many opposition leaders are joining the party from notably the Congress and other regional parties. Most have fled to BJP for fear of being summoned, charge sheeted or jailed by the CBI or ED etc. On his part, prime minister Modi continues to unleash a barrage of familiar invectives by invoking the spectres of Nehru-Gandhi dynastic lineage, coupled with accusations of stagnation, corruption, and a regressive “cancel culture.” His narrative meticulously crafts the Congress as a relic of the past, mired in inertia and negativity, while extolling the BJP as the harbinger of a dynamic and positive future for the nation. All these show that BJP takes elections very seriously and on constant campaign-mode. Some would describe the BJP as an opposition in ruling. On the other hand, the disparate opposition, after finally getting their act together in forming the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), on July 18 at Bengaluru, has disintegrated even before it could take shape. The INDIA bloc is coming apart over seat sharing issue. This was expected as regional opposition parties such as AITMC, AAP, JD(U), SP, BSP who have been brought together on the page with Congress, are competing in West Bengal, Punjab and Delhi, Bihar, UP. Ironically, while the Congress is the best asset for INDIA, it has also become a liability at the same time. This is because the Congress continues to be on denial mode about its inherent weakness which are being greatly exposed after 2014 and especially the rise of Modi-Shah duo in national politics. Modi and Shah are determined to remain in power and what is unfolding makes that intention clear. By throwing up a politically immature and disinterested politician like Rahul against Modi, the Congress continues to lose the plot since 2014 and has landed itself in a situation. Even when intense consultations and mending fences was the need of the hour for INDIA, Congress remained focussed on Rahul Gandhi and his Bharat Jodo Nyay Ratra. The insolence of the sycophant-filled and family courtiers in the Congress has only driven other parties away from it and that is what has disintegrated INDIA. Congress can only but hope that things could improve by 2029 but that could only be if BJP commits huge blunders.