The Opposition’s grand INDIA block is crumbling so fast it should apply for heritage status before it collapses entirely. For months, its leaders boasted about unity, shared values, collective strength, and that magic word— “morale.” Today, that morale looks like a deflated balloon lying in a corner while every party kicks it for fun. The latest Parliament session made one thing crystal clear: the only thing holding this bloc together is the hope that their mutual dislike for Narendra Modi will somehow substitute for leadership, vision, or even basic coordination.
Take Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. Instead of dutifully following the Congress’s script, both parties have dared to focus on issues that matter to their voters. The SP raised questions about the Sambhal riots; the TMC highlighted violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. The Congress, of course, wanted everyone to revolve around Rahul Gandhi’s chosen theme of the week. But the regional parties—never fond of being treated as extras in the Congress’s political theatre—decided they had had enough of being told what to think, what to raise, and whom to blame.
The INDIA bloc’s cracks widened dramatically when Mamata Banerjee, the alliance’s self-declared founder, openly questioned the Congress’s ability to lead. In her trademark style—equal parts blunt, amused, and slightly exasperated—she remarked that she would gladly take over the alliance if asked. She didn’t miss the chance to point out, with a flourish, that she can run it from West Bengal itself because, after all, geography is merely a suggestion. Her message was unmistakable: if Congress can’t manage its own alliance, why blame her for offering adult supervision?
Her remarks triggered a wave of enthusiastic agreement from Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi. Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Uddhav Sena declared that Mamata is a central pillar of the alliance and deserved a larger role. Sharad Pawar chimed in too, praising Mamata’s capabilities and reminding everyone—without naming him—that he has used the word “capable” for many leaders, but rarely, if ever, for Rahul Gandhi. It was an elegant political slap dressed as a compliment.
This scramble for leadership comes despite the Congress finishing with 99 seats and the regional parties collectively bagging 135 in the Lok Sabha. Even after nearly doubling its numbers from 2019, the Congress remains a shaky “natural leader”—a title earned more by habit than by performance. Meanwhile, two major partners—Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD—quietly defected to the BJP-led NDA before the elections. That alone should have alerted Congress that their alliance was less a coalition and more an exit queue.
The alliance’s biggest flaw is its composition: parties that have grown primarily by eating into Congress’s vote base—SC, ST, Muslim, and regional identities—are now being asked to strengthen the very party they weakened. Why would they? A stronger Congress threatens their own influence. So they want a weakened, desperate Congress that needs them, not one that leads them.
The regional parties also argue—quite convincingly—that they have a better record against the BJP. And the facts support them. The National Conference defeated the BJP in Jammu & Kashmir. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha defeated it in Jharkhand. In contrast, the Congress squandered a golden opportunity in Haryana, losing despite the BJP’s vulnerabilities, and faced humiliation in Maharashtra, after which its allies conveniently blamed the Congress for the disaster. With crucial elections coming up in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, regional parties feel Rahul Gandhi is less a leader and more a political liability. Leading with him, they argue privately, is like trying to win a marathon while dragging a grand piano.
Yet, even within this rebellion, there is no unity. The DMK still supports the Congress because it faces no threat from it in Tamil Nadu. Others are waiting for the wind to settle before choosing whom to betray. Ideology? That word evaporated from the alliance vocabulary months ago. Today, unity is held together with resentment, rivalry, and a common fear of irrelevance.
The INDIA alliance was built on the premise that a chorus of contradictions could magically produce harmony. Instead, what we are seeing is a political orchestra where every player believes they are the conductor, and no one wants to follow the sheet music. Its survival depends entirely on how long these parties can tolerate each other in the name of defeating the BJP. Judging by the current tone, ambition and impatience, that tolerance is rapidly thinning.
The real question now is not whether the INDIA bloc can defeat the BJP. The real question is whether it can survive itself. And at the current rate of self-inflicted implosion, it may not even last long enough to find out.
