Just after the Legislative Assembly elections results were out on May 4, 2026 the dark shadow of the crisis started hovering over INDIA bloc. BJP had swept the polls in West Bengal defeating TMC led by Mamata Banerjee, while TVK of Vijay emerged largest political party in Tamil Nadu that ultimately ejected M K Stalin and his DMK from power.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi then said that only Congress can defeat the BJP in the country that angered the INDIA bloc allies. The matter did not stop here. Congress deserted INDIA bloc ally DMK in Tamil Nadu after the election results were out and sided with Vijay. This antagonised the DMK leadership, which said that they will not seat with the Congress in the Parliament.

The action of the Congress drew sharp criticism by several political leaders. The most significant was the cryptic message was of the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who took an indirect swipe at Congress by posting in social media, “We are not the ones who abandon in difficult times.” He made this statement as a mark of solidarity with the DMK. Since Uttar Pradesh will be going to polls in 2027, this message has acquired special importance. No wonder, if the things are not tackled carefully, Congress and Samajwadi Party may contest separately in the forthcoming election in the state.

Congress led United Democratic Front (UDF) has defeated the LDF in Kerala, and that may have emboldened Rahul Gandhi to say that only Congress can defeat BJP at the national level. In Kerala and West Bengal, Congress and the Left are competitors.

In West Bengal, TMC, Congress, and Left Front are competitors, and therefore, they could not unite against the BJP. Not only that the reports have come out that Left front even helped BJP to win by sloganeering at the ground level – Ebar Ram, Pore Bam (this time BJP, next time Left). TMC had thrown Left Front government in West Bengal in 2011, and hence the Left leadership is unable to reconcile with Mamata. TMC is also an offshoot of the Congress and the cause of its ruin as a political party in the state. After the defeat, TMC supremo Mamata has called for unity among the opposition in West Bengal, saying that BJP is their common enemy. She was right. She has also vowed to unite the INDIA bloc against the BJP, but only time will tell how much she will succeed.

BJP has even become stronger in Assam, though chiefly at the cost of AIUDF. Congress has been able to marginally increase its vote share but has lost in terms of number of seats. Congress has gained a little even in West Bengal, but it remains inconsequential.

INDIA bloc is thus in total disarray, though they need to unite at this difficult time. Despite defeat, they are swept by their egos. Congress may assert that their moving away from DMK to new entrant TVK led by Vijay is politically correct for their party, on several grounds – including one that DMK never allowed the Congress to share power in the state. It was of course a mistake on the part of the DMK which was against the coalition dharma.

In Bengal, Congress could not enter into alliance either with TMC or with Left Front in spite of theirs being part of INDIA bloc elsewhere. In Kerala, Congress and Left can’t be part of the same alliance due to their opposing interests, though they remain India bloc ally elsewhere. .. BJP is still small in Kerala, so in any case the ruling party is LDF or the UDF led by the Congress.

In case of Tamil Nadu, one thing is clear that TVK, Congress, and DMK all are against the BJP’s expansion in the state. This is the common ground on the basis of which they can enter into alliance elsewhere. DMK’s announcement of not sitting with Congress in INDIA bloc in the parliament of India is just an overreaction. They can still have greater coordination at the national level. In the state, they must not develop a sense of enmity among themselves to their own ruin in the hands of BJP or NDA, as we have seen in Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar.

It is a reality that political parties in the INDIA bloc have their own regional political interests, while the Congress is the only party that has national interests with their larger support base. As biggest political party in opposition, Congress has therefore greater responsibility to nurture a culture of federalism in the INDIA bloc – that is a union of regional and national political forces. Rahul’s statement that Congress is the only political party that can defeat the BJP is only a daydream.

The need of the hour is that the INDIA bloc parties should immediately sit together to sort out differences and re-unite, or else be ready to be defeated by the BJP, be ruined as political parties, or become inconsequential. There is still time, and the opposition parties have still considerable voter support base, despite BJP’s wins in the state elections held since Lok Sabha Election 2024. They must at least evolve a joint strategy for now on important issues facing the nation and compel the BJP government to act on them.

BJP is emboldened now to take on the opposition parties with big confidence in the coming state assembly elections. The INDIA bloc parties have to decide whether they remain apart and face another big defeat in coming state assembly elections followed by 2029 Lok Sabha polls. (IPA Service)