Though the Congress is trying to cash in on Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha, it is far from yielding the desired result as the opposition parties seem to be divided on a host of issues. While in Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray has showed his displeasure over Rahul Gandhi’s statements on Veer Savarkar, the mood of JD (U) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is swinging from time to time.
If these two leaders turn towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once again, it will not be a smooth sailing for the Congress in the upcoming general election of 2024. On the other hand, the BJP knows very well that if the RJD-JDU coalition continues in Bihar, it will be tough for the ruling dispensation at the Centre to repeat the 2019 general election victory with the same margin. Similar is the case inKeeping in view the future agenda, the BJP is trying to woo both Nitish Kumar and Uddhav Thackeray as Bihar and Maharashtra together account for 88 Lok Sabha constituencies.
In the Parliamentary polls of 2019, BJP had fought with the JDU and Shiv Sena in Bihar and Maharashtra respectively.
There is also a reason for the swing in Nitish’s behaviour. Nitish wanted the Prime Ministerial face to be decided first for the 2024 general elections but the Congress was quite indifferent to it and gave a message that it will it decide on the issue on its own.
As Nitish realized that his number is not going to come, he first changed his stand against his ally RJD. At the time of ED and CBI action, he did not say anything in favour of Lalu Yadav’s family and remained silent. Not only this, two days ago, he reached the house of MLC Sanjay Mayukh, a close aide of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. But the discussions gained more momentum when Nitish did not react to Rahul Gandhi’s case. Nitish did not even participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. It seems that the BJP is once again running ‘Operation Lotus’ in Bihar. In Maharashtra too, Uddhav Thackeray’s displeasure is signifying a lot.
Aggravating the situation further for the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a few days ago after he got angry with Rahul Gandhi’s statement on Veer Savarkar, resulting into boycotting of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s dinner today.
Even though the opposition parties seem to be united on the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha, they have their own issues to settle. Though they are seen together during the Parliament session, their genuine fight is with the Congress.
The likes of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are far from riding the coalition boat.
Under these political circumstances, the Congress will have to fight Rahul enigma alone.
