Numbers are stacked against them, or so may be the perception. But opposition parties are pooling in numbers to force a debate against the dominant political narrative in the country. The main test they have in sight is the presidential election due in July.
For the moment, the Narendra Modi government appears to have an edge with parties like the YSR Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti indicating that they would support the National Democratic Alliance. This would help it bridge the gap of nearly 20,000 votes needed to win the presidential polls. The BJP is likely to nominate a person from within the saffron family, possibly with RSS roots, while the opposition is hunting for a face who could not just put up a fight, but also could initiate a debate about RSS control over the Constitution and its secular principles.
“The office of the president is very important. We are looking for secular supervision of the Constitution as opposed to communal supervision. With that objective, talks have started,” said CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
The likely candidates on the opposition radar include Gopalkrishna Gandhi and former Lok Sabha speaker, Meira Kumar, who is dalit. Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari, has been sounded out about his possible nomination. “He fits the bill because of his clean image and secular credentials. He is accepted by the Left parties and the Trinamool Congress. Him being the grandson of Rajaji can convince the southern parties, too,” said a senior opposition leader. He, however, said Gandhi’s nomination would depend on the choice the ruling party makes.
If the opposition is able to win over a few parties from the NDA, like it managed to get the Shiv Sena to vote for Pranab Mukherjee in 2012, it could upset the calculations of the Modi government. The Sena can change its mind if a person from Maharashtra is the candidate. “It is a war of attrition,” said Yechury. He said the BJP would possibly wait till the opposition made its choice.
Given Modi’s style of functioning, even his colleagues are not quite sure about who would make the cut. There is a buzz around names like Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao. Murmu and Gehlot are being considered as they belong to tribal and dalit communities, respectively.
Mahajan comes from the RSS background and has extensive experience in parliamentary procedure. As she has been running the Lok Sabha, she knows opposition leaders well. Other likely choices include Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and BJP stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi and L.K. Advani. Joshi’s and Advani’s chances suffered a blow after the Supreme Court recently asked them to be tried under conspiracy charges for pulling down the Babri mosque.
“It is likely that the BJP would field a person with an RSS background. We would oppose that. It is an ideological battle for us,” said K.C. Tyagi, Janata Dal (United) general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP. “We want a debate against tampering with the spirit of the Constitution. The sangh wants to review the Constitution as they want to remove socialism and secularism from the preamble. They even want to do away with reservation.”
The BJP, however, is confident. “We have the numbers. Their claims of creating an ideological debate will not bear fruit,” said BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. To bolster support for its cause, Venkaiah Naidu was in Chennai recently to interact with the AIADMK leadership. Interestingly, BJP president Amit Shah postponed his visit to Tamil Nadu until after the presidential polls so that his aggressive posturing against the state government did not upset the AIADMK.
The opposition, too, has been active in its search for a consensus candidate. Yechury is speaking to parties which are opposed to the Congress. He has met Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy of the YSR Congress and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to persuade them to cooperate with the Congress. While Patnaik is learnt to have agreed to a joint candidate, Jagan seems to have thrown his lot with the BJP.
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, CPI leader D. Raja, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Yechury to discuss the possibility of a common candidate. After meeting Sonia, Mamata said although they spoke about the presidential elections, no specific names were discussed. “We will meet again to discuss a consensus candidate,” said Mamata.
Nitish Kumar, too, is strategising to identify a consensus candidate. A few days after he visited President Pranab Mukherjee, Nitish said it would be a good idea to give Mukherjee a second term. Like Yechury, he is also talking to parties that are not too friendly with the Congress. The opposition leaders will get another opportunity to fine-tune their strategy when they gather in Chennai on June 2 for the birthday celebrations of DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi. However, despite the hectic parleys, the actual announcement of candidates is likely only after the Election Commission formally launches the election process by the middle of next month.
The opposition is trying to put up a united front not just for the presidential polls, but also for a whole lot of issues, including the Kashmir crisis and the alleged hacking of electronic voting machines. Senior opposition leaders are keen to hold a conclave on Kashmir to stress the importance of dialogue with all stakeholders as against the Union government’s strong-arm approach. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and Left leaders are keen to have the conclave in Delhi. “We are waiting for the appropriate time and are working out a nuanced subject to debate,” said an opposition leader. “Otherwise, the government and its machinery would try to brand us as anti-nationals. We want to change the debate, and all actions are in that direction.”
