There are too many questions regarding the I.N.D.I Alliance. Was the alliance for all times to come? Or till such time the Bharatiya Janata Party was defeated? Or was it limited only for the duration of the effort to wrest the Lok Sabha from the clutches of the BJP? Or meant to operate at all levels till it is disbanded?
There are no clear answers to it yet. This means that at this point, it falls between the several stools. Even the various groupings that constitute the Alliance have shown no indication of its purpose except their strong anti-Congressism.
It has emerged the strongest in Delhi, the battleground where both Aam Aadmi Party and Congress, two of INDIA partners fought against not just their common foe, the BJP, but against each other. The Congress was bitter, the AAP less so, and almost all INDIA partners backed the AAP. Strangely, Congress relished the AAP loss.
INDIA leaders like Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party put in their appearance in Delhi; he addressed rallies and joined Arvind Kejriwal’s roadshows. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena too threw in its lot with the AAP. Not that SS (UBT) or Trinamool Congress has any significant presence in Delhi.
‘Aur lado’
The first post-results response to come from any INDIA constituent was from Omar Abdullah. In a terse comment, he said “aur lado”, meaning keep fighting among yourselves and see what happens. Its intended targets were both the AAP and the Congress; Abdullah’s National Congress had kept faith with the Congress in the J&K elections.
How would a loosening alliance fare hereafter is the elephant in the room. State Assembly elections are due in both Bihar and West Bengal. And Trinamool Congress [TMC] which vigilantly guards its political fort with diligence has blamed both AAP and Congress for their debacle in Delhi and Haryana. Yet, she has said Congress won’t be TMC’s partner in West Bengal.
Mamata Banerjee, however, cannot have it both ways, blaming the two INDIA partners for not forming an alliance in Delhi on one hand and keeping one of them away from her turf on the other. AAP’s concerns of protecting their home ground from others are the same as TMC’s. Mamata is more averse to any poll deals with CPM as she is to one with Congress though all three are INDIA partners.
Limited ambitions
Unlike AAP, other parties with smaller bases like DMK and AIDMK have limited ambitions of only protecting or improving their hold in their state. When Telangana Rashtra Samithi wanted to increase its footprint and rechristened itself as Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS), it failed. It also came a cropper on its home turf.
Regional parties tie up with national parties only to benefit from a small proportion of the votes from, say, BJP or Congress, which can potentially transfer to them for a small consideration: a few Assembly seats. But their alliances with other regional parties are pointless. What can a TDP, a TMC bring to BRS or a DMK? These are notional tie-ups. To think otherwise is insane.
A regional party’s reach doesn’t go beyond its state’s geographical borders. They’re joining up with larger fronts like the NDA or INDIA designed to provide solidarity with other partners and create a felt atmosphere. It is to underscore their common interest without sacrificing their local interests one bit. TMC failed in faraway Goa, and CPM has been failing in West Bengal.
To expect smaller parties to sacrifice their local interests and give room to Congress by sharing seats to repeatedly fail – as in Haryana – is asking for too much. It needs to show its winning capability to be respected as a partner, let alone be accepted as a leader. It’s neither living up to its pre-1990s stature nor reinventing itself. Smaller parties need to keep their footprints.
Unity within an alliance – an oxymoron of an expression – was compromised the day the Lok Sabha results were announced. It is fated to remain that way till a new cause emerges sooner or later. It could even be fighting the BJP in 2029. By then each regional outfit could strive to strengthen themselves and find a nationwide cause. Or merely flail.
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