As time flies, so does the distance between the present and the upcoming 2019 elections for the Lok Sabha. It’s no rocket science to determine who will fight whom. It’s a clear contest between the incumbent NDA government, led by PM Narendra Modi and the loosely bound united opposition. However, there is one simple question, which has neither been answered by the opposition, nor the intellectuals backing them.
In a recent conference with the press, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath took a jibe at the over enthusiastic opposition, accusing them of ganging up to create political instability, and asked them the simple, but pertinent question: Who is going to lead the fight? Who will be the face of the opposition for the 2019 elections?
In a press brief at the ‘Hindustan Shikhar Samagam’, Yogi Adityanath had a good laugh on the united opposition, popularly known as ‘Mahagathbandhan’. To quote him, ‘…….The opposition is worried that the BJP is gaining from strength to strength. They are opposed to development and have been ganging up to join hands with the only aim to take on the saffron party……..’
This came in the backdrop of the desperate efforts by Rahul Gandhi led Congress and Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party to stitch an alliance with the Mayawati led Bahujan Samaj Party for the UP region ahead of 2019 LS polls.
Addressing the issue further, Yogi Adityanath also assured about the positive effects of some government’s efforts. He said, ‘The opposition is against development and its only target is to dislodge the BJP from power……….They cannot project any leader who can head the alliance……..Be rest assured, a grand Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya. The people are very hopeful. Ramji will decide its date. But, it will be built definitely.’
It’s not a hidden fact anymore that the opposition has once again ‘teamed up’ to take on the BJP in 2019 polls, buoyed by their ‘new found success’ in Karnataka. They aim for the following:-
1.) Forget Personal Differences
2.) Combine the Forces
3.) Remove PM Modi from power
Simple to follow and easy to achieve, right? Nope. While none of us has anything against the opposition unity and their ‘optimistic agenda’, they fail to address some important questions that cannot be avoided.
How will the opposition share seats, and in what ratio? Why would Congress underestimate their power and let strong regional parties have their say or why will strong regional parties make way for a down and out Congress? Parties with ideologies poles apart, like SP & BSP, the Left faction from CPI [M] and the All India Trinamool Congress will be a part of their alliance. Can old enmity be put completely aside for shorter gains?
Also, can the opposition unity afford to ignore the role that parties like non-aligned but NDA-leaning parties like TRS, BJD, and AIADMK etc. would play? They’re already underestimating the approach of BJP general secretary Amit Shah, which is certainly not a good approach if they wish to make it big in 2019.
Above all, Yogi Adityanath’s question still lingers. Who will be the undisputed face of opposition? Is it going to be Rahul Gandhi, the designated ‘heir to PM throne’ as anointed by Congress? Is it going to be Mamata Banerjee, the new found darling of the media, completely ignorant of her tyranny back home? Is it going to be Mayawati, or is it going to be Mulayam or Sharad Pawar maybe? This question remains unanswered, for obvious reasons.
With the question at the ‘Hindustan Shikhar Samagam’, Yogi Adityanath has once again exposed the charade of ‘united opposition’, and has determined that come what may, BJP won’t bow out of 2019 elections. We hope that the opposition makes the road a little less difficult, given the faces they’ve kept in mind for the united opposition front.