The Opposition’s courage in dubbing itself ‘I.N.D.I.A.’, with ‘D’ for developmental in the middle, is to be acknowledged. In so doing, it has signalled that it will go head-to-head with the BJP on nationalism and development. Courage alone is not enough, and it remains to be seen how the alliance hopes to convincevoters that it can do better on both counts.
Having put these two emotive issues at the front and centre of the 2024 campaign, INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) presumably has the broad contours of a plan to take on ‘Vikas Purush’ Narendra Modi on his own turf. While no inkling of such a plan has so far emerged, it should be reflected in the proposed common minimum programme (CMP).
Until now, the Opposition has differentiated itself from the NDA only by characterizing the latter as majoritarian, prone to abuse of power and an enemy of free speech. These abstractions, however, do not resonate with uncommitted voters. The Congress did not win Karnataka because of high ideals; rather it was a high degree of anti-incumbency (read corruption).
The anti-BJP alliance has the advantage of voter fatigue after 10 years of the NDA, as well as the inevitable expectation-delivery mismatch. But without a focused negative sentiment vis-a-vis the Modi government, it can only get past the post on the strength of voters’ belief that it can do better than the present dispensation. To begin with, it needs to come up with another tagline. ‘Jeetenge Bharat’ communicates precisely nothing, unlike ‘Viksit Bharat’ which speaks of a developed India.
India has experienced coalition governments earlier, but never one without a centre of gravity – a national party with substantive numbers acting either as the leader or the anchor of the coalition. So this alliance is a new kind of political formation and must present its credentials to the voters well before the polls.
Given that the CMP will throw up talking points, it may not take a clear-cut stand on contentious issues, such as the Uniform Civil Code, the abrogation of Article 370, the dilution of the Triple Talaq law, the Citizenship Amendment Act and the system of judicial appointments.
But it cannot avoid addressing the central theme of development. In terms of the Modi government’s initiatives towards financial inclusion and tax reforms, will the alliance salute the Jan Dhan Yojana, UPI, the India Stack and Indiachain, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and transparent taxation platform? Is it on board with the NDA’s flagship programmes: Digital India, National Semiconductor Mission, Circular Economy, Swachch Bharat, e-NAM, Government e-Marketplace, Smart Cities and Gati Shakti? Will it continue the Ujwala, Awas Yojana and Jal Jeewan programmes?
Is there anything at all that it would roll back? In terms of foreign policy, what would it change? What can voters expect, and what is in store for the taxpayer? It’s not enough to say that ‘we will implement these programmes better’. Like it or not, the last ten years have been transformative in multiple ways. It is for the Opposition alliance to explain what transformations of its own it proposes to bring, rather than promising freebies (as the Congress and AAP tend to do).
A pre-condition for the CMP is having all the partners on the same page. Take labour reforms, for instance. This being a concurrent subject, it is for the state governments to take a call on deregulating labour markets, pursuant to the four labour codes passed by the Centre.
TN chief minister M K Stalin announced in April, 2023 that he had put labour reforms (the Factories Amendment Bill) on hold. Congress-ruled Karnataka, too, has promised to roll back the reforms instituted by the BJP. On the other hand, the labour reforms introduced in Rajasthan in 2014 by the BJP are still on the statute books (with significant benefits in terms of employment, wages and factory output).
Leaving the matter to the discretion of individual state governments would be tantamount to saying that the Opposition is pulling in different directions. Besides, if India is to enter the China-plus-one space and become a global manufacturing hub, can the Opposition afford to take a contrarian stance? Already, back-pedaling by TN and Karnataka is seen as a setback for global tech majors looking to expand or set up manufacturing in south India.
The Old Pension Scheme (OPS) is another source of disagreement. The Congress, which did not take issue with the National Pension Scheme (NPS) all through its 10 years in office (2004 – 2014) has done a volte face and decided to reinstate the OPS in all Congress-ruled states. So has AAP.
But the JD(U), the moving force behind Opposition unity, is dead set against re-introducing the OPS in Bihar. Meanwhile, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other states are on the fence, as nobody knows where the money will come from, as pension liabilities have increased at a much faster rate than the states’ own tax revenues.
What about agriculture? Some states believe in free trade in farm produce, others don’t. Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala and Punjab all have their own models and degree of government intervention in the farm sector.
A CMP is just the first in a series of challenges for the new alliance, seat-sharing being the most tricky. But India would like to know what I.N.D.I.A stands for.
Bhavdeep Kang is a senior journalist with 35 years of experience in working with major newspapers and magazines. She is now an independent writer and author
