Will a non-BJP, non-Congress front be possible?

At national level a political buzz has begun. Speculations are making round that the just concluded elections to West Bengal had shown that if all forces which are opposed to BJP are brought together, the ruling NDA can be easily defeated in 2024. In other words it means that a non BJP, non -Cong alliance will have to be formed.

The beginning of this political churning (how long it will last is difficult to say) on the completion of two years of Narendra Modi's second term gains importance. But then the question is, can such a unity among the parties be brought by the veterans? It appears that veteran politicians like Sharad Pawar are now unable to face the fast changing politicking and have decided to depend on political strategists which has now become a new business. With no dynamic leadership in the opposition, they are now looking towards paid political strategists.

The recent meeting between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Prashant Kishore is learnt to have discussed the possibility of forming a non BJP and non Congress front. The meeting, it is said, was of the opinion that if such a front was formed they can target about 400 seats.

In other words, the NCP chief is looking at the West Bengal model. If parties like DMK, YSRCP, TRS, Shiv Sena, TMC etc can be brought on one platform and if a regional front could be formed, it would be possible to give a tough fight to BJP is what Pawar and Co feel. If this formula takes concrete shape, the Congress will be left alone and could get further decimated.

The failure of the Centre in preparing the states to face the second wave of pandemic and the slowdown of economy, the non BJP parties feel could help them in their campaign. But then it is not so easy a task. First and foremost issue is that the front should come into existence by the end of 2021 or early 2022.

In India, we have seen how every party keeps bargaining till last minute before joining the alliance and how they start pulling in different directions soon after the alliance comes to power leading to collapse of coalition government.

There is still a long way to go before Pawar's game plan takes a concrete shape. Meanwhile, the country will be witnessing seven Assembly elections next year. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur in February-March; Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in October-December.

In all these places, despite not being able to re-bounce politically, the Congress continues to be the main rival to BJP. All that is required is to work hard and see that the vote percentage of the grand old party increases by about a little over five percent.

The Congress still has a good chance to bounce back if it goes in for early organisational elections and throws up a leader who can enthuse the state units and succeed in putting an end to migration to other parties. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal rightly said India needs a resurgent Congress and that would be possible only when early organisational elections take place.

This is necessary for the Congress as by 2023, elections in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland would be held and the Congress can emerge at least as the main opposition. But unfortunately, the party does not seem to be moving in that direction. It has already lost over six years and continues to make strategic mistakes.