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For more than a decade, Indian politics has been shaped by a simple but profound reality: the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have succeeded not merely in winning elections but in establishing political hegemony. Electoral victories can be reversed; hegemony reshapes the very terms of political debate. It determines what questions are asked, which issues dominate public discourse and what constitutes political common sense.

The opposition’s response to this transformation has been hesitant, fragmented and often contradictory. The INDIA alliance emerged from a recognition that fighting the BJP separately would only strengthen the ruling dispensation. Yet the alliance has never fully resolved its central contradiction: many of its constituents are as wary of the Congress as they are of the BJP.

This contradiction now appears increasingly difficult to manage.

Periodic tensions among alliance partners, disagreements over leadership, strategic divergences in the states and recurring debates about the future of opposition politics raise an uncomfortable question: Is the future of the opposition to be found in an ever-expanding anti-BJP front, or in a smaller but ideologically coherent coalition built around a common political vision?

The answer may determine the trajectory of Indian democracy in the coming decade.

The limits of the grand coalition

The INDIA alliance brought together an extraordinary variety of political formations. Some were rooted in social justice movements. Others were powerful regional parties. Some represented secular nationalism; others embodied regional aspirations and federal concerns. A few appeared united only by opposition to the BJP.

The arrangement made electoral sense. It did not always make ideological sense.

A coalition that includes parties competing fiercely against one another in their home states inevitably struggles to present a unified national narrative. Congress and Trinamool Congress remain adversaries in Bengal. Congress and AAP have often viewed each other as competitors. Congress and Left parties carry decades of political rivalry. Regional parties frequently fear that a revival of Congress could eventually threaten their own political space.

As a result, INDIA has often appeared less like a political movement and more like a temporary ceasefire among competing forces. The problem is organisational as much as it is philosophical. What exactly does the alliance stand for beyond opposing Narendra Modi and the BJP?

Voters may support an anti-incumbent coalition for a time but they rarely entrust power to a coalition that lacks a clearly articulated alternative vision.

The opposition’s leadership dilemma has been discussed endlessly, often........

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