India's single-party dominance challenge: The opposition needs to set its policy agenda right for a credible challenge

The scene is somewhat similar in India, where opposition parties are vociferous about different things on different days to such an extent that it is hard to see what they are really against and even what they are really for.

First, a disclaimer: I am neither an expert in electoral politics nor an analyst of the internal politics of our political parties. I am rather uninterested in them and not too concerned about the fortunes of this leader or that faction.

I am making a few observations and indulging in some year-end wishful thinking because I think India needs a political alternative that can keep the entire constitutional machinery in balance by having a real chance to come to power at the next election.

I have been mystified by changes in the Indian National Congress’s positions and posture over the past two years. How does it go from Bharat Jodo Yatra to championing a caste census? The former was a worthy corrective to the divisive politics of recent years and united Indians under patriotism and pluralism.

The latter divides India along caste, negating what the party’s leader walked thousands of kilometres across the country for, just a couple of years earlier. No matter how smoothly its case is presented, a division of India is division, be it horizontal or vertical.

I do not know enough to diagnose why the Congress is unable to connect the deep convictions of its leadership to a coherent national political agenda that is fully backed by the party organization.

What I do see is a massively distracted party chasing numerous controversies every day, reflexively opposing everything that the government does, with party leaders projecting aggrieved outrage at every opportunity.

The sum total does not inspire confidence, not least because the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not only ideologically more coherent and better backed by an election-winning apparatus, but because it can easily do all the popular things that the Congress says it will do if it were to achieve power.

Writing about Europe and the US, Mark Leonard notes that “the new right has the narrative, the social base, the policy agenda and the communications channels to thrive.” This has been the case in India for nearly 15 years now. That ought to have been a long enough for opposition parties to put together the ingredients for success.

Yet, Bharat Jodo was abandoned as the nucleus of an alternative narrative despite the tremendous investments that went into it and the electoral results it showed. The caste census will have unpredictable consequences for the Congress, as its experience in Karnataka has shown.

Quotas and reservations as a policy agenda might work in some states but come at the cost of alienating the party from supporters and donors across the rest of the country. Its communication channels, meanwhile, are exhausted by chasing daily controversies, dissipating energy and diluting the party’s core narrative.

As the national reception of Bharat Jodo demonstrated, people are receptive to a narrative of unity, patriotism and federalism. Any political alternative that seeks to come to power in New Delhi must embrace this unreservedly.

It should also attempt to create a social base around a shared national identity, not this caste against that caste. It should be comfortable with Hinduism in political life and promote its genuine pluralistic expression.

It should uphold secularism, but recognize that it applies to the state, not to individuals and society. On the economic front, it should promote growth through public investment in infrastructure and private sector competition.

It is possible to create a liberal nationalist political agenda that is sufficiently differentiated from the BJP’s to form the basis of a credible political alternative. Nationalism with pluralism. Growth with competition. Development with social security. National strength with federalism.

With the conviction and communication discipline to stick to one’s own agenda without compulsive wild geese hunting expeditions. The party has to hold its line across election cycles to be trusted by the voter.

Jumping from issue to issue from one election to another suggests an over-reliance on data analysts. Today, voters may think that the Congress is about personalities or caste arithmetic and little beyond that.

The Congress needs to change if it is to be a credible political alternative. How it does this is primarily the business of its members, supporters and leaders. Yet, how it conducts itself in Parliament is of public interest.

I would like to see a more creative opposition than a noisy one. I would like to see more confident and inspiring spokespersons, not aggrieved ones.

The way to escape quicksand is non-intuitive. When I asked Perplexity how, it said you should stay calm, move very slowly and jettison heavy items that drag you down. Take a deep breath to stay afloat. Then reach out for solid support. None of this is easy, but one can start by not making things worse.