It was time to shed all doubts, the Congress leader said. Elections are being stolen 100 per cent by the BJP. He had seen it in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and in other states. The allies however still seem to be doubtful. This confusion must end, he said, adding, โYou will not have a fair electionโ. Old political tools will no longer work. He warns allies that normal electoral politics, caste arithmetic, state-level strategies and traditional political instruments worked only when institutions were neutral. The neutrality no longer exists.
BJP, he went on to suggest, wants to project the opposition as weak He says the narrative that INDIA bloc is divided, depressed or uncoordinated is a BJP-created story, amplified by the media and the alliance
must stop internalising it. Nitish Kumar, he asserted, did not leave the INDIA bloc because of him or the Congress. As for the DMK, he could vouch for the regional party; that when it comes to safeguard national interest, everyone from the DMK would be in the same room.
His terse response to the letter addressed to the Congress President, and released to the public by CPM, was that he would not hug the former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan because he had an ongoing political fight with him. The comment received wider publicity and evoked a sharp reaction from CPM and Vijayan himself. Rahul Gandhi had hugged Narendra Modi in parliament and was free to hug whoever he liked, said Vijayan; but his approach was weakening opposition unity.
Both CPM and Vijayan appear to be riled at Rahul Gandhiโs statement during campaigning that the CPM in Kerala was acting like the B team of the BJP. Referring to the ongoing investigation by the ED against Vijayan and the now-defunct firm of his daughter, the Congress leader had asked in rallies why the ED appeared to be so lenient with Vijayan while arresting other opposition leaders on mere suspicion.
Ironically, Vijayan himself was no less harsh during the campaign. โRahul Gandhi is a national leader, yet he lacks the basic awareness of even a common local worker of Congress in Kerala; he simply refuses to learn from experience or mistakes. It is hard to understand how such a downfall is happening to him. Rahul Gandhi
and his Congress are the โB-teamโ of the BJP in the country, and yet its stance is being adopted across India,โ he had said. So, the jury is still out on who between the two have done greater damage to opposition unity.
To return to the speech, Opposition unity, the Congress leader said, did not mean fake harmony Allies would have local fights and contradictions, but on defending the idea of India, everyone will come together. โUnity does not require pretending there are no differencesโ.
With the BJP and the RSS controlling the bureaucracy, the legal system, the intelligence agencies, and even the Election Commission, how will the Opposition function? Social media is not fair either, he said pointing out that opposition leadersโ accounts are suppressed and BJP’s online dominance is not organic. The entire digital architecture, according to him, is tilted to protect the ruling government.
Resistance against injustice and an unfair system is what the Opposition ought to work on, he suggested. Resistance does not need bureaucracy, media, agencies or political architecture, or neutrality of the state. It needs courage and moral clarity. Resistance must become a daily political practice, citing the CBSE evaluation fiasco, NEET leaks, the Great Nicobar heist and the simplicity of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Resistance is bigger than politics and bigger than elections, he suggested, ending by framing struggle as a spiritual and moral duty, not an electoral project.
