When the octogenarian Yashwant Sinha writes on opposition politics, it is time to sit up and take note of what the highly-respected well informed former finance minister has to say: “Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was formed with a great deal of fanfare on July 18, 2023, a few months before 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Although it didn’t win the election, the INDIA bloc gave Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a run for its money,” he wrote in an op-ed article titled ‘An Action Plan for the INDIA Bloc to Get Its Act Together’.

He added: “BJP lost as many as 63 seats and its tally came down from 303 to 240, 32 short of the majority mark in the House. A loss of another 20 seats would surely have seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi out of office. He was lucky he survived by the skin of his teeth with the support of an unprincipled Nitish Kumar and a selfish Chandra Babu Naidu.” Yashwant Sinha rarely minces his words. “In the elections, the Congress party won enough seats (99) for its floor leader Rahul Gandhi to be formally recognised as the Leader of Opposition.

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But since then, the BJP has won a number of state level elections and regained its mojo,” he said, adding, “Modi has gone back to his old ways and is doing what he is best at doing: spreading communalism, destroying institutions and stifling democracy. The INDIA bloc has been making some noises but it is nothing more than a cry in the wilderness. Given these circumstances what sho – uld the bloc do? Let me attempt an answer based on my long experience of coalition politics in India.” He outlined the existential crisis which the country is facing. “Forces of darkness that stood defeated in the run up to the country’s independence and had nothing to do with it have not only raised its head again but are clearly in ascendance now and if not defeated in time, will pose long-term danger to its future.

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No country can progress economically, socially and politically on the shifting sands of communalism and yet that is what the BJP is trying to do; not that it believes in Hinduism but because it has become a handy tool for misguiding people and garnering their votes. The time to defeat these forces is now. By tomorrow it may be too late.” Sinha wants the INDIA bloc to act on a number of fronts without losing any more time, with ideological clarity, a clear vision of the future, organisational cohesion and an action plan to........

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