By Swati Gupta
India’s opposition alliance, launched with a lot fanfare final 12 months, is heading into subsequent month’s election on the backfoot, struggling to mount a profitable problem in opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Known by its acronym I.N.D.I.A. — or Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance — the coalition of greater than 20 events has been beset by defections to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and disagreements over seat sharing. Losses by the Indian National Congress, the largest social gathering within the alliance, in state elections in December have additionally forged doubt over its means to win voters.
Modi is predicting he’ll return to energy for a 3rd time period within the elections attributable to kick off on April 19, saying his social gathering and allies will sweep the vote with greater than 400 of the 543 parliamentary seats being contested. His recognition has been fueled by a mix of financial progress and Hindu nationalist insurance policies, which resonate in a rustic the place about 80 per cent of the inhabitants establish as Hindu.
To counter this, the alliance is focusing its message on India’s unemployment, particularly amongst younger folks, crony capitalism and corruption.
Here’s a take a look at a number of the key opposition leaders looking for to make a dent into Modi’s recognition.
Rahul Gandhi, 53
A descendant of three generations of prime ministers, Gandhi has been ready for a decade now to take the highest job. He has run in opposition to Modi twice in nationwide elections, and misplaced. He resigned as social gathering president after the Congress’s routing within the 2019 ballot. Critics have questioned his management skills, whereas he’s typically portrayed by Modi and the BJP as being out of contact with voters.
Still, the Gandhi identify has forex. Opposition events rallied round him after he was sentenced to jail for making defamatory remarks concerning the prime minister’s identify in 2019. The Supreme Court later suspended his conviction.
Gandhi has tried to vary his picture within the run as much as the elections by making direct appeals to voters. In late 2022, he marched from the southern tip of India proper as much as Kashmir within the north in a journey spanning 137 days. The effort paid off with the Congress social gathering scoring a victory in state elections in Karnataka in May 2023.
On Sunday, Gandhi ended a 65-day trek throughout 15 states from the east to the west of the nation.
Mallikarjun Kharge, 81
The first non-Gandhi to turn out to be president of the Congress social gathering in additional than twenty years, Kharge was chosen in 2022 to the highest put up. He has been main talks with regional events to strengthen the opposition alliance and is now being considered as a attainable prime minister candidate.
Kharge is a member of India’s lowest caste, the Dalits. He began his political profession as a pupil union chief in Karnataka earlier than transferring on to turn out to be a Congress social gathering lawmaker and authorities minister. Given his age, although, it’s unclear whether or not he would play a serious position within the social gathering after the elections.
Mamata Banerjee, 69
Banerjee is the one lady governing a state in India and as a nationwide opposition chief, she has not often shied away from public rows with Modi. In the most recent dispute after the enactment of a controversial citizenship regulation, which discriminates in opposition to Muslim immigrants, Banerjee stated her authorities will oppose it.
She has additionally been a vocal critic of different opposition events, notably the Congress. Banerjee began her political profession with the social gathering within the Nineties and left to begin her personal group often called the All India Trinamool Congress Party.
In 2011, she pulled off a landslide victory in West Bengal and is now serving her third consecutive time period as chief minister. She was one of many essential leaders behind the opposition alliance however has since stepped again, saying her social gathering gained’t share any seats with the Congress in her West Bengal stronghold.
Akhilesh Yadav, 50
Yadav was India’s youngest chief minister at one level, governing essentially the most populous and politically vital state of Uttar Pradesh. In the previous two elections, he’s posed the largest menace to the BJP within the state, the heartland of India’s Hindi-speaking belt.
With a inhabitants of 200 million folks, Uttar Pradesh sends 80 lawmakers to the nationwide parliament. The BJP has consolidated its assist there beneath Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a former monk turned politician. In January, Modi opened a controversial Hindu temple on the location of a destroyed sixteenth century mosque within the state, fulfilling a long-held promise of the social gathering.
Unlike different regional leaders, Yadav and his Samajwadi Party have agreed with the Congress on seat-sharing allocations. Yadav’s social gathering will contest 63 seats in Uttar Pradesh with the Congress focusing on the remaining 17. If he’s in a position to win a considerable variety of seats, Yadav might be seen as a serious participant within the alliance.
M.Okay. Stalin, 71
The politician’s father named him after the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, who died 4 days after he was born. Leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or DMK, Stalin was elected chief minister in Tamil Nadu within the south in 2021. An atheist, Stalin stands out amongst political leaders in India who typically use spiritual id politics to construct assist.
The DMK prides itself on being a secular social gathering. It faces an energized BJP making an attempt to make inroads in Tamil Nadu with a Hindu nationalist agenda. In 2019, the BJP didn’t win any of the 39 parliament seats from the state.
Tamil Nadu is likely one of the richest states on a per-capita revenue foundation, and among the many greatest contributors of consumption taxes collected by the federal authorities. However, Tamil Nadu, in addition to different opposition-controlled southern states, have complained that they’re not receiving a fair proportion of their income contribution.
Pinarayi Vijayan, 78
Voters within the southern state of Kerala have oftern switched between the Congress social gathering and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) each 5 years. A stalwart of the latter, Vijayan although gained a second time period as chief minister — due partially to his improvement applications and his means to behave swiftly in instances of disaster, be it the pandemic or cyclones.
Kerala is economically robust, with a inhabitants that’s essentially the most literate within the nation. The BJP’s Hindu-first technique has didn’t resonate with voters there. While Vijayan’s Kerala unit hasn’t joined the alliance, he’s been a vocal critic of the federal government’s dealings with the southern states.
First Published: Mar 20 2024 | 8:26 AM IST
