Leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar are leaving the ‘India’ alliance one after the other. All three accuse the Congress of being responsible for the breakup of this alliance. Is Congress really the cause of this alliance breakup? A detailed analysis of
Last week, Mamata Banerjee announced that ‘India’ would withdraw from the alliance. He said, “We are not concerned about what happens in the country. We are a secular party. We will defeat BJP in West Bengal. Congress rejected all our proposals. Subsequently, we have taken the decision to contest alone in West Bengal. Rahul Gandhi’s yatra passed through West Bengal even though we were in the ‘India’ alliance. We were not even informed about it out of respect. They have no relationship with us.”
Following Mamata, the Aam Aadmi Party announced that it would contest alone in Punjab. Congress is not in a mood to accept Aam Aadmi alliance. The Aam Aadmi Party said that they are announcing this break as the Congress has also put a deadlock on the seat division. Now Nitish Kumar has also walked away from the India alliance. Failure to meet the expectations of allies. It planned to field Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge as its prime ministerial candidate. Nitish Kumar’s side said that he left the alliance due to his dissatisfaction with the Congress in terms of seat distribution.
In this way, the main reason for the breakup of the alliance has been alleged by the Congress party and its constituencies.
Why these contradictions? – Congress leaders at the top level confirmed unity, but failed to strengthen unity among parties at the state level. In particular, there is a situation where the Congress has to ally with the regional parties in power in the state. But it is impossible for the state Congress functionaries, who have been against the regional parties for a long time, to show harmony with those parties. Regional parties are also in the same mindset.
In this case, the Congress, which is ranked third and fourth in many states, is interested in contesting in more seats. But if more ‘seats’ are given to the Congress party, which has recorded the least victory in the state, will their chances of winning decrease? Constituency allocation is complicated by the presence of regional parties in the mindset of Specifically, there are 42 constituencies in West Bengal. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress won 22 seats, BJP won 18 seats and Congress won two seats. But this time the Congress has demanded 10-12 seats. But the Trinamool Party has said that ‘Congress should contest in only 2 constituencies like last election’. Due to this, there is dissatisfaction among Congress state leaders.
Thus they directly criticized Mamata. In particular, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “This election will not happen because of Mamata Banerjee. The Congress defeated the BJP and the Trinamool Congress in two seats given by Mamata Banerjee. Mamata Banerjee is an opportunist. “He came to power in 2011 at the mercy of the Congress,” he said.
At that time, Nitish Kumar advised, “Congress is an old party, so it should act with a big heart”. Also, it is worth noting that he withdrew from the ‘India’ alliance, accusing the Congress party of showing weakness in the alliance negotiations. Also, other parties are alleging that the Congress is thinking of strengthening itself by holding the Yatra by putting aside the coalition talks.
Who is really responsible for the party breakup? Talking about this, journalists Priyan said, “It is not acceptable to blame only the Congress party in the division of constituencies. Congress won two seats in West Bengal in the last Lok Sabha elections. But out of 18 seats won by BJP, the margin of votes between Congress and BJP is very less in more than 4 constituencies. So, if Trinamool forms an alliance with Congress, it will win those constituencies as well. However, if they face separate elections, both the parties will face slippage. This will increase the chances of BJP to win.
Therefore, the State Parties should also ensure a harmonious course in this regard. Although these breaks are seen as setbacks, this is not the end. It should be settled quickly through negotiations. Also, the Congress is the only party at the national level that is an alternative to the BJP. Hence, it is very important to conduct Yatras to gain attention at the Indian level. Will the Congress party, which has shriveled for many years, regain its lost value in the state by forming an alliance? As, great leaders like Mamata would surely think. But those thoughts will only reduce their chances of success.
Also, even if leaders say that the All India is strong no matter who leaves, these ruptures will weaken the All India among the people; Due to this, India’s chances of winning will decrease,” he said.
Currently, the regional parties in power in many states are formed against the Congress party considering the need of their state. In the states where the opposition is strong, the Congress is completely unable to rise to the occasion. Therefore, if the regional parties go to polls with the Congress, the prestige of the Congress is likely to rise in the state. The purpose for which the party was started will be eroded. Therefore, no state party would come forward to give such an opportunity to the Congress.
Similarly, only if we form an alliance based on principles to destroy BJP’s ideology and oust them from power, the chances of BJP’s victory can be reduced. But not all state parties think so. Thus, it does not matter whether the BJP wins or loses at the centre. Parties like Aam Aadmi and Trinamool want to establish themselves in the state. Therefore, the view is also presented that they are reluctant to travel with the Congress party.
Similarly, the state parties can be expected to mend this rift after the elections with the All India Alliance. But it will question the credibility of the India Alliance among the people ahead of the elections. Due to this, people’s faith in India alliance will be destroyed. Votes will be scattered. Political commentators say that it will increase the chances of victory for the BJP.
The India alliance formed with the aim of ‘dethroning the BJP’ is getting weaker day by day. Will these issues be resolved in three months and elections will be held? It depends on that to be seen.