Considering that the BJP had emerged as the second largest party in the last round of the panchayat polls in the state in 2017, the BJD cannot afford to take things lightly. It is also aware that after West Bengal, Odisha is the BJP’s next target in eastern India. Having failed in the mission to win 200-plus seats in West Bengal, the BJP is expected to try its best to make up for that loss by putting up an impressive show in Odisha.

However, the fact that there has been no real meeting of minds between the BJD and the rest of the national opposition is evident from its absence from the gathering of 19 parties in response to Sonia Gandhi’s call. There were other absentees, too, such as the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and the Akali Dal, which induced the Trinamool Congress to call for inviting a larger number of parties including the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the CPI(M-L).

The BJD’s position, however, remains ambiguous along with that of the YSR Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). While the BSP’s desire not to rub the BJP the wrong way to avoid being embroiled in Enforcement Directorate and CBI inquiries is understandable, the reluctance of parties like the BJD (except for one notable occasion), the YSR Congress and the TRS to be associated with the national opposition is curious.

The wish to be on friendly terms with a powerful party at the centre is one explanation, especially when these parties do not seem to have any serious reservations about either the BJP’s pro-Hindu policies or the emasculation of the supposedly autonomous official and academic institutions. But their attitude can nevertheless seem strange at present in view of the perception of a decline in the BJP’s popularity as borne out by an opinion poll.

One possible reason is their aversion towards the Congress. It is a hangover of the times when the Congress was much stronger. Moreover, the party hasn’t shed the arrogance of those days even in its present weakened condition. Yet, since the Congress remains the only opposition party at the national level with a pan-India presence and 19.5 per cent of the popular vote (against the BJP’s 37.4), virtually all the major opposition parties concede that no anti-BJP formation is feasible without it. This, apparently, is the roadblock before the BJD, the YSR Congress and the TRS.

On its part, the Congress, too, plays it own petty games. By keeping out the AAP from Sonia Gandhi’s meeting, the Congress expressed its unease over the possibility that the AAP may pose a greater challenge than on the last occasion in next year’s assembly elections in Punjab since the Congress has been hobbled by the Amrinder Singh-Navjot Singh Sidhu infighting. The Punjab elections are probably another reason why the Congress kept out the Akali Dal from the opposition meeting.

But it is against such a small-minded approach that Mamata Banerjee has spoken out against, asking all the parties to rise over partisan considerations and unite against the BJP. This is Sonia Gandhi’s call, too, but to what extent the Congress will forsake its blinkered attitude is doubtful consideration that a party spokesman responded to the references to the absence of the AAP and the Samajwadi Party with the dismissive observation, “who cares ?”

It appears, therefore, that the West Bengal chief minister’s appeal for constituting a small, core group which will meet every three or four days to chalk out a plan against the BJP may not take off. The opposition parties are too variegated a group to be able to function purposefully. There are also internal divisions as in the Congress, which has a G-23 (now 22 after Jitin Prasada’s switch to the BJP) group of dissenters who are unhappy about the Congress’s leadership vacuum – the party only has as an interim president – and lackadaisical style of functioning.

The Congress is also seemingly in terminal decline in states like West Bengal, where its vote share in the last assembly election was 2.94 per cent, and U.P. where it was 6.25 per cent. Little wonder that the Samajwadi Party, which is the front-runner in the state for taking on the BJP, stayed away from Sonia Gandhi’s meeting as it has already said that it will not align with any national party in the forthcoming elections. Its allies will be the small outfits like the Rashtriya Lok Dal.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the BJP believes that the opposition get-togethers are so much hot air and do not pose a challenge to the saffron party. It also probably banks on the absentees like the BJD, the BSP, the YSR Congress and the TRS to create enough confusion in the opposition ranks to enable the BJP to forge ahead. (IPA Service)