Priyanka says ‘opposition unity’ defeated BJP’s ‘conspiracy’; will this fragile camaraderie endure

A day after a united opposition delivered a first-of-its-kind setback to the BJP-led Centre by defeating the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to clear delimitation based on the 2011 Census, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday described it as a victory for the Constitution, democracy, and opposition unity.

The opposition foiled the Narendra Modi government’s “conspiracy regarding delimitation,” she told media persons, asserting that the Lok Sabha outcome proved the INDIA alliance could effectively dismantle the government’s agenda when acting with strategic coordination.

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“They thought that if the Bill passes, it is fine. If it fails, we will project the opposition as anti-women and become the messiah of women… It is not easy to become the messiah of women. We saw what happened to women in Hathras, what happened to our Olympic medallists, and others… The opposition could not have supported the move. It showed that the opposition can defeat them when united,” she said.

While Friday marked a historic legislative moment when a united Opposition blocked the government’s move to tweak the Women’s Reservation Bill—the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam—the question is can this fragile camaraderie survive inherent conflict between national goals, regional survival and rivalries.

“Opposition unity has been frequently challenged amid regional rivalries, leadership disputes, and cross-voting,” observers say, pointing to instances when the ruling government managed to successfully bypass or defeat an uncoordinated Opposition, lacking unified agenda and leadership.

The fact is any coalition is also governed by regional compulsions, for instance in states like West Bengal and Kerala where members of the INDIA bloc (such as the Left, TMC, and Congress) are rivals. Then there are issues and disagreements over the leadership, in this case the “face” to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

INDIA Bloc allies have been pitching for a rotating leadership model, suggesting that regional leaders like M.K. Stalin or Mamata Banerjee are better options instead of Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, it is believed. In Even in the last Delhi elections, a lack of seat-sharing between the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress split the anti-BJP vote, leading to a decisive saffron win. The Congress acted as a “spoiler” for its then “ally,” which has now broken ranks with the INDIA Bloc to go a separate way.

The ultimate example of the collapse of coalition politics is the Janata Party government, which first united opposition parties against Indira Gandhi. Among the more recent examples is the failed No-Confidence Motion in 2023 when despite forming the INDIA alliance to counter the BJP, internal ideological differences and shortage of members led to its failure. “The fact is numbers also matter. For instance, if it was the case of a simple majority instead of a special one in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Centre’s attempt would have been successful,” observers add.