New Delhi, Sep 29 — Hours before the Congress-led Opposition platform is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on September 30 to formulate a common strategy and discuss further action against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged poll impropriety, questions remain over the bloc’s cohesiveness and its apparent objectives on the issue.
The meeting comes even as leaders within the Opposition ranks have acknowledged that the bloc does not have the required numbers in Parliament to remove the CEC.
However, Opposition parties intend to demonstrate unity over what they describe as a challenge to the electoral process's integrity and transparency.
In a recent statement, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee reportedly acknowledged the Opposition’s limitations in removing the CEC and said that it was up to the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) to pursue that objective.
He was apparently referring to CJP protests that were said to have led to the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over reported examination malpractices.
In a letter to the newly formed organisation, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary M.A. Baby is said to have sought its suggestions and involvement in the Opposition’s proposed protests.
The organisation's possible participation in future movements against the Election Commission, despite not being a political party, is expected to be among the issues discussed on Wednesday, according to a CPI(M) functionary.
Incidentally, Baby took an active role in reaching out to Opposition leaders and urging them to come together.
He wrote to several leaders, including Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, following which she reportedly began engaging more actively with the initiative.
Despite longstanding political differences and erosion of their respective support bases, efforts were made to bring together parties opposed to both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. However, those efforts have so far failed to gain broad consensus.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, whom Baby met personally, is understood to have indicated that, after parting ways with the INDIA bloc and facing the Congress in the forthcoming Punjab Assembly elections, his party would prefer to stay away from the initiative.
The M.K. Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is also expected to skip the meeting after announcing its withdrawal from the bloc following political differences with the Congress.
Following the emergence of actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) as a major force in recent elections, the Congress shifted its political alignment, leading to differences with the DMK.
However, both the AAP and DMK are said to be open to supporting a parliamentary motion if the Opposition decides to seek Gyanesh Kumar's removal as CEC.
Questions over Opposition unity persist elsewhere as well.
In Kerala, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front was voted out of power by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the latest Assembly election.
In West Bengal, the Left parties and the Congress continue to view Mamata Banerjee with caution because of her shifting political positioning before eventually deciding to contest independently.
On several occasions, regional aspirations have compelled Opposition parties to pursue separate political paths in state elections.
Even in Goa, despite the state’s relatively small electoral size, the Congress, AAP and Trinamool Congress contested separately.
Meanwhile, Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana and several other regional parties have maintained an equidistant stance from both the BJP and the Congress.
The Opposition bloc also remains far short of the two-thirds majority of members present and voting required to remove a Chief Election Commissioner.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is also expected to ensure maximum attendance on the treasury benches if such a motion is moved.
The meeting comes a day after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) adopted a strong resolution demanding Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, and restoration of voters allegedly removed from electoral rolls.
Congress leaders have said they will raise the issues discussed at the CWC meeting before the broader Opposition platform.
Given its political history and the numerical realities in both Houses of Parliament, Wednesday’s meeting may prove another difficult test for the Opposition platform formed ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The bloc failed to unseat the NDA at the Centre and has since suffered setbacks in several states, while one of the original movers of Opposition unity, Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar, remains firmly aligned with the BJP.