Ajay Maken is treasurer of the All India Congress Committee, and also a powerful leader in Delhi and at the national level. After the release of a 12-point“white paper” on December 25 targeting AAP and the BJP for mismanagement of pollution, civic facilities and law and order in Delhi, he called AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal an“anti-national” and“Farziwal”. No sensible leader in the INDIA bloc, not even leaders within the Congress including Rahul Gandhi, supported this line of attack on AAP and Kejriwal.
AAP had first taken over the rein of Delhi in December 2023, as successor of Sheila Dikshit of Congress who had been ruling the state since 1998. Kejriwal became chief minister with the support of the Congress, since AAP could win only 28 seats at that time and Congress had won only 8 in the 70-member assembly. Since then, Congress could not win any seat in 2015, and 2020 Vidhan Sabha election. In a bid to regain its lost ground, the Congress seems to have under temptation, and planning for all out attack on AAP, against the Coalition Dharma, and against the ground realities.
No doubt, AAP is undergoing several layers of political troubles this time, which included the anti-incumbency of over a decade, and much weakened organizational strength of AAP, but it is utter miscalculation of the Congress that they could derive extraordinary benefit by attacking its own ally in INDIA bloc.
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For Congress, it would have been better to understand the importance of INDIA bloc beyond the elections, seats, and power. The country is undergoing a delicate phase of political shift from by and large socialist, secular, democratic and federal politics to a highly centralized far-right Hindutva politics. It is in this respect INDIA bloc needs not only to be saved but also revamped into action in the right direction.
Elections and seats are less relevant for the Congress than pushing the overall political environment of the country on the line of the preamble of the Constitution of India at this juncture, since it has not much stakes in the two state elections in 2025 – in Delhi and Bihar. In both the states, INDIA bloc's regional allies AAP and RJD are stronger. Congress will be contesting on its own with BJP in Assam in 2026, while in Kerala it will be contesting with the left parties. In Puducherry and Tamil Nadu Congress is junior ally of the stronger regional party, while in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee led TMC is predominant and the Congress marginalized with no seat in the assembly.
The election scenario in these states should not be allowed to derail the Congress from the right political track for the larger interest of the nation. The party must see beyond the state election in the next two years in the country. Party must not ignore INDIA bloc and the Coalition Dharma now, otherwise it would need the regional political parties' much needed support in 2027, when the important states such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, Gujarat, and Goa would go to poll.
Everybody by now knows that INDIA bloc has been almost inactive, especially after the election in Maharashtra and Haryana, chiefly on account of Congress leadership's lack of interest in making the INDIA bloc active. What Congress has been doing with its INDIA bloc partner AAP in Delhi is quite disconcerting to other allies too.
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Though Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has been leading the INDIA bloc, he and his party never cared to call for a joint meeting of its allies. This precisely is the reason what made RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav to make a statement that INDIA bloc needs a leadership change and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee should be made its leader. Even NCP(SP) leader Sharad Pawar has said Mamata is a“capable leader”.
Congress leadership should read the signal further in the statement of RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav in Bihar, since the state is going to poll later in 2025. He said that INDIA bloc was meant for only 2024 Lok Sabah election adding“If we talk about Bihar, here we were together even before under Mahagathbandhan”. He actually indicated the fact that Congress has not much relevance in Bihar.
Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, and Shiv Sena (UBT) have also supported AAP in Delhi elections. National Conference leader and Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah has suggested disbanding of INDIA bloc if it was not meant to work beyond 2024 Lok Sabha election, adding“the alliance with Congress wasn't about seats for us” indicating the real purpose of the united opposition INDIA bloc. He even lamented the lack of clarity on the future of INDIA bloc.
“It is unfortunate that no meeting of the INDIA bloc has taken place. Who will lead? What will be the agenda? How will the alliance move forward? There is no discussion on these issues. There is no clarity on whether we will remain united or not,” Abdullah said.
All these show that INDIA bloc, as a united opposition, need to meet urgently after the Delhi elections are over, to revamp itself and to make it active again in the larger interest of the country, otherwise the socialist, secular, democratic and federal republic space would shrink further. (IPA Service )
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