A lot of noise is being made in the name of the Grand Alliance. It is true that if the opposition unites, the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) will find it really difficult to retain power at the Centre. But it is not rocket science. In a democracy such things do happen. A united opposition most of the times, has proved more powerful than the ruling party. Since 1977 on a number of occasions India has also witnessed the same. As the opposition made it a point to prevent any division of opposition votes, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi lost in 1977 general elections. During 90s the country has seen many experiments with coalition politics. Many pre-poll, post-poll alliances were made and broken. In fact, even in the last general elections it was Congress vs. BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The outcome of the polls is still fresh in our minds. The Congress couldn’t win even 50 seats, whereas buoyed by the coalition strength BJP bagged complete and simple majority in the Lok Sabha. So it is quite natural for political parties to talk about coalition politics ahead of general elections. But there is a lot of difference in what the opposition parties are say and what they actually are. Firstly, no coalition can be strong enough if its main agenda remains just to beat the ruling party. The opposition parties will have to reach the electorate with an alternative programme to woo them. Sadly, the supporters of grand alliance are yet to come out with any alternative programmes. Definitely India’s plurality is under attack today. If the opposition parties think that weapon is powerful enough to propel them to power, they are mistaken. Apart from intolerance, there are many more burning problems which need to be addressed immediately. What about the economic crisis the country is facing today? Do the opposition parties have any plans to tackle this problem? How will they solve the farmers’ issue? Everyone knows that loan waiver is not a solution. But to garner votes the opposition ruled states are announcing loan waivers putting the future of development and welfare measures in jeopardy. Manufacturing sector is also being neglected. The Modi Government has failed to create two crore jobs per annum. But how many jobs they are planning to create, the opposition parties will have to announce. The banking sector is sinking. What are the steps the opposition parties are planning to take in-order to revitalise the sector? What will be our foreign policy, especially with the neighbours need to be answered before the opposition seek votes from the people.
But the opposition camp seems to be in no mood to answer all these vital questions. The parties seem to be interested only in seat sharing agreements. The lack of cohesion among the oppositionparties have come to fore. In Uttar Pradesh, the SP-BSP alliance haskept only two seats for the Congress. Naturally it left the century-old party fuming. The party has already announced that it will fight in all the 80 seats in UP. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikhas decided to maintain equidistance from both Congress and BJP. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also following Naveen’s footsteps. So there is nothing grand about the proposed ‘grand alliance.’
