Presidential poll reveals how infighting and bruised egos weakened the grand alliance

Ostensibly, the Presidential election was a clash of ideologies. But was it? The Opposition did try to prop up the contest in that context, or paid lip service to it in any case, but the churn within broke through the seemingly placid surface of Opposition unity. It started with a big ticket opposition leader, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose name was being bandied about as the possible convener of the projected coalition for the 2019 elections. Breaking ranks with his co-travellers, he endorsed Ram Nath Kovind, who had been the Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017, resigning to contest for the post of the President. So ambivalent was Nitish even about participating in discussions regarding the Opposition’s candidate that he skipped a meeting called by Sonia Gandhi to discuss the issue, coming instead to New Delhi on the very next day for a luncheon with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the PM of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth.

The Samajwadi Party, under Akhilesh Yadav, had thrown its weight behind Meira Kumar in a show of unity, but was unable to maintain intra-party unity. Shivpal Yadav, the disgruntled uncle and loyal brother, went on record to state that he was supporting Kovind under the directions of his older brother, Mulayam Singh Yadav. He further claimed that some 14 MLAs were also toeing the same line. This family drama has been in the headlines since last year and displays no signs of flagging.

Mamata Banerjee, since demonetisation, has been in constant protest mode. Post the recent inflammation in Darjeeling and the communal violence in Basirhat, her utterances have become more strident, and one might add, focused on self-preservation. She announced that her vote for Meira Kumar was a vote of protest. One can only imagine how heartening (sic!) that show of confidence would have been for Ms Kumar, who has, in her own right, some achievements to her name, barring her dynastic lineage. And then there are the six from Tripura, who have voted against the party line and Didi’s diktat, their suspension has done little to douse their dissent.
Mayawati kept it simple, saying that if either wins, it would be a win for the Dalits.

AAP, which has been unusually reticent lately, showed some dissent in its ranks when HS Phoolka, their well-known leader in Punjab and a popular TV news media panellist, stated unequivocally that a vote for Meira Kumar would be a vote for a side that was shielding perpetrators of the 1984 carnage against the Sikh community, further suggesting that a few loyalists will follow his lead. Speaking of ideology, there seems to be an ideological unease within the ranks of AAP. Remember, the party was formed in opposition to the corruption of the UPA regime and, in particular, the Congress, and there is a strand that feels appropriated by the grand ol’ party at the cost of its convictions for the sake of politics. This election seems to have given them the space to air their dissent.

Of course, there is the widely acknowledged factionalism in the Congress in Haryana, which has led Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to claim that he has the support of 75 MLAs when his party has 47 seats in the assembly. So where are these additional MLAs coming from?

These are but some of the murmurings that are emerging from the Opposition camp in this “clash of ideologies”. Despite the desperate attempts to frame the contest in this way, it’s become open season for party dissenters to air their grievances and avail of the secret ballot to register their complaint against their parties and the leadership.

In a television debate, a spokesperson from one of these parties made a telling comment, which missed scrutiny, but was loaded with revelation. He stated that the Congress needed to recognise that the regional players had a voice and were stakeholders. He, inadvertently, placed the whole posturing in perspective: There is no clear leader emerging from the Opposition’s gathbandhan, but there is plenty of jostling going on with the grand ol’ party trying its best to retain its supremacy. This makes it increasingly evident that this battle was not about who would be the President — that was always a foregone conclusion — but rather about who would get top billing in the 2019 elections. And at this point, that is anybody’s race.

The author is an established writer and screenwriter