After Maharashtra, the fate of the Opposition

Of the two states that went to polls, Maharashtra was the big prize. And, the incumbent BJP-led Mahayuti has made a stunning turnaround to win the state. This is remarkable since the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had won 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in June, with the Congress winning 13 of the 17 seats it contested. Sure, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance in Jharkhand, a grouping that includes the Congress, retained power, but there is a larger message for the Opposition in the results.

The ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc have won two each of the three states and a Union Territory where assembly elections were held after June. Interestingly, the INDIA bloc won the two where strong regional parties led the campaign (Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir) and lost the two states where the Congress was the leader (Haryana and Maharashtra). In fact, the Congress’s under-performance pulled down the INDIA bloc’s tally in both Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

The INDIA bloc will need to return to the drawing board and confront the elephant in the room, which is the Congress. National alliances need a pole party, which in the case of the INDIA bloc is the Congress. However, the party seems to be lacking in ideas, manpower, leadership, and funds to deliver. That hurts the national prospects of the INDIA bloc, and may even endangers its chances in Delhi and Bihar, which are headed to the hustings next year.

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