After being born in Patna on 23 June and named in Bengaluru on 18 July, there was a lot of curiosity in various section as to what the new stage ‘INDIA’ blc of anti-BJP political parties would do at the two-day third conference in Mumbai on 31 August and 1 September.
According to the opposition the most curious is surely the Hon’ble Narendra Modi and his teammates. Not just curiosity, but concern. They are not naive, so watching the programs of these two months might have realized that this rival body of opposition politics cannot be dismissed with cheap tricks of triviality or satire, even by producing headlines like ‘One Nation One Parliament’ or ‘Special Session’ of Parliament.
It can be difficult to remove opponents from the media and social sphere. As evidenced by the anxiety and restlessness of the ruler, ‘INDIA’ succeeded in its initial task.
This achievement is valuable, because effective oppositional political power is one of the keys, in a sense the most important, of effective democracy.
Especially in today’s India, which is under the influence of hegemonic pluralism.
Then? There are two indications in Mumbai about the opposition’s next move. One, public relations; Two, seat distribution.
Two proposals were adopted at the conference to convey INDIA’s message to the people across India: on the one hand, to organize meetings, rallies, etc wherever possible, and on the other hand, to coordinate the political messages of the participating parties. Definitely recommend.
The importance of campaigning in India’s electoral politics has reached unprecedented levels in the last decade . It is not possible to build democratic competition by denying this fact. It is a major task of oppositional politics to present one’s message strongly in the campaign field.
A coordination committee consisting of Rathi-Maharathis is necessary for that task, but not sufficient. The work must be done on the hard ground of reality, through constant toil, that effort is the sine qua non of true public relations.
The second issue is seat understanding. The stakes on this question are high, especially in states like West Bengal or Kerala where India’s partners are direct rivals, a conflict that cannot be denied or set aside in any ‘all-India’ interest.
Notably, recognizing this fact, the coalition proposal calls for fighting together ‘as far as possible’.
Politics is the art of possibility, the opposition is now a great test of building that art. An ordeal is no exaggeration.
The toughest question in that test: What alternative to the ruler do the opposition want to present to the public? What kind of India do they want in contrast to Hindu state? The answer heard so far in the rhetoric of the opposition is: liberal, multilateral, secular, democratic India responsible for citizens’ rights. This goal is certainly appropriate. It is also undeniable that the central rulers are going against it in every respect. But the opposition parties also have to fulfill these conditions in their policies and behavior, otherwise they cannot become credible enough to the public. It is this lack of credibility of the various protagonists of the opposition camp and their followers on the question of democratic ideals and code of conduct that has given the Hindutva camp enormous strength in their drive to occupy India. If an alternative power is to be built today, its one and only basis can be democracy. The opposition has to prove that democracy. not in words
