It has not been six months since the Lok Sabha elections ended and the opposition alliance ‘India’, formed with so much fanfare, is nowhere to be seen. The name of ‘India’ block is not being taken anywhere. There was an alliance of Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra and an alliance of JMM, Congress, RJD in Jharkhand. But ‘India’ block was not discussed. By-elections are also being held in many states but the opposition alliance seems to be missing in them. All the parties are contesting the elections on their own terms. Even if an attempt was made at an alliance, it was not successful. From Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal and from Punjab to Kerala, all the parties are contesting their respective elections and are trying their best to defeat each other.
Think, the by-elections are being considered as mini general elections but even in that the parties did not coordinate. In Uttar Pradesh, where the opposition alliance ‘India’ had achieved the greatest success, the alliance could not survive there also. Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav is under the illusion that victory in Uttar Pradesh is his. That’s why he did not understand the need to talk to Congress and adjust it in the by-elections. He knows how important these by-elections are for BJP’s politics. If BJP loses in the assembly by-elections after Lok Sabha, then discord within the party will increase, which will be of political benefit to the opposition alliance. Despite this, he left the Congress and unilaterally declared candidates on seven seats. That left two losing seats for the Congress, after which the Congress said it would not contest the elections. Congress said that the alliance is intact but all the nine seats will be contested on the SP symbol. Now Congress leaders are waiting for SP’s balloon to deflate if it loses in the by-elections.
Similarly, there are by-elections for six seats in West Bengal and it seemed that even if there would be no coordination between Congress and Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress, there would definitely be coordination between Congress and the Left Front. But what happened? There also no party talked to anyone. Mamta unilaterally declared candidates on six seats. After that the candidates of Congress and Left Front were also announced. Keep in mind that this time the by-election is like a litmus test, considering the movement that is taking place after the incident of rape and murder of the junior doctor of RG Kar Hospital. Still no one understood the need for coordination. Similarly, by-elections are being held on four seats in Punjab and both Aam Aadmi Party and Congress are fighting their respective battles, due to which the contest has become multi-cornered on all four seats. There is an opportunity for BJP and Akali Dal. Like last time, this time too the Congress candidate is contesting from the Left Front in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat of Kerala. This will help the BJP candidate to strengthen his position there.