The one thing uniting all the members of the INDIA alliance is that they disagree with the basic ideology of the RSS, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said, adding that Opposition parties will continue to have "tactical contests" -- or friendly fights.
At a gathering at Berlin's Hertie School, the Leader of the Opposition was asked a question on the INDIA alliance. He replied that people tend to see the alliance building up when an election comes. "Look at it slightly differently. All the parties of the INDIA alliance do not agree with the basic ideology of the RSS. That's the point. And you can ask any of them. None of them will tell you that we believe in the ideological position of the RSS. So we are very much united on that question. But we have tactical contests that take place, and we will continue to have them," he said.
"But you will see that when it comes to the Opposition requiring unity, and you see it every day in Parliament, for example, we are very united. And we will contest the BJP on the laws we disagree with. It's a deeper battle now than simply elections. Now we are fighting a battle for an alternate vision of India," Gandhi said.
Backdrop Of Rahul's INDIA Clarification
The clarification is significant at a time when many in the Opposition bloc have raised questions on the viability and the future of the INDIA alliance. These questions also play out against the backdrop of friendly fights in several states such as Kerala, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The BJP has repeatedly used these contests to question the unity within the Opposition.
These questions are likely to become louder in the run-up to the Assembly polls in several states early next year. In Kerala, the CPM-led LDF government is in power, and the Congress-led UDF will challenge it in the state polls. In Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress is under fire from the Left and the Congress, its allies at the Centre. As for Maharashtra, the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, but every election witnesses bickering among the allies over seat-sharing.
In the recently held Bihar polls, Opposition unity was under strain during the seat-sharing discussions. The RJD and the Congress could not accommodate Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha during the seat-sharing between the allies.
The BJP, on the other hand, has deftly managed its allies and this has paid dividends in elections.
Omar Abdullah's "Life Support" Remark
A week after the opposition bloc's rout in the Bihar polls, National Conference leader and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said the INDIA bloc is on "life support".
"We're sort of on life support, but every once in a while, somebody brings out his paddles and gives us a bit of a shock, and we get up again. But then, unfortunately, results like Bihar happen, and we slump down again, and then somebody has to wheel us into the ICU," Abdullah said.
He also said he believes that the INDIA bloc "pushed Nitish Kumar back into the arms of the NDA" and pointed to the alliance's failure to accommodate the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in the Bihar seat-sharing arrangement.
Omar is not alone. D Raja, the general secretary of CPI, also an INDIA bloc member, said opposition parties need to introspect. "When the secular democratic parties came together to form the INDIA bloc, the whole objective was to save India and defeat the BJP... Now, what is happening? why is the INDIA bloc not functioning with the expected coordination and coherence?" Raja asked.
In the past, Congress's political setbacks have often been followed by questions about the INDIA bloc's leadership. The BJP has had a laugh, with one leader quipping that the opposition alliance is not on life support, but dead already.
