Pegasus: Nitish breaks ranks, Rahul signals flexible Cong

Bihar CM and BJP ally Nitish Kumar’s vocal support in Patna on Monday to the demand of the Opposition parties in Parliament for an investigation into the allegation that the military-grade spying software Pegasus has been used against senior Opposition leaders (including Rahul Gandhi of the Congress), many journalists and prominent personalities from all walks of life, is the first sign that the BJP-led NDA may be cracking on this sensitive issue. The matter has paralysed the functioning of Parliament right through the Monsoon Session. Where this may lead is not clear but the development could not but have boosted morale in the ranks of the Opposition parties, more than a dozen of which — including RJD — gathered on Tuesday morning for a breakfast discussion at the invitation of Mr Gandhi. Former prominent BJP allies, the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal, have already demanded a probe into the spyware scandal and the Sena was present at the breakfast brainstorming at which Mr Gandhi kept his focus on the “foundation of unity” among BJP’s opponents.

His urging that differences and disagreements could crop up but the “principle” of this “foundation” was important, and would act as deterrence against aggressive stance of the BJP and the RSS against the Opposition. This does appear to be a new kind of formulation for the Congress Party.

While, in tactical terms, the Congress has worked for Opposition unity on several occasions to challenge BJP, especially on the floor of Parliament, and has led two consecutive governments at the Centre with the help of “secular” parties, the question of unity amongst non-BJP parties has never before been raised to the level of a “principle”.

Is this a new turn in the country’s politics? A party like the Shiv Sena would not have made the cut in previous editions of Opposition unity platforms led by the Congress. Therefore, are we in an evolving situation? The picture is likely to get clearer as some more time passes, especially after Assembly polls in a clutch of states in early 2022.

Mr Gandhi’s apparently impromptu suggestion that Opposition leaders ride a bicycle from the Constitution Club to Parliament House to highlight the issue of crushing fuel prices is an incipient example of unity-in-action on the streets. Whether this progresses to higher forms before the state polls next year can only be guessed at.

All the same, Mr Gandhi’s stress on the principle of laying the foundation of Opposition unity is a clear departure for the Congress leadership in that it is an open acknowledgment that the Congress needs the support of other parties in the system to take on the challenge posed by the BJP and the broader Sangh Parivar. This is a positive, not least because it rescues the Congress from being ostrich-like. Such openness of outlook has the potential to draw in the onlookers in the Opposition spectrum, in particular if the BJP is seen to falter in the upcoming state polls next year.

If the optics were to be weighed in the balance, the Opposition scored over the government on Tuesday, even if Mr Kumar weighed in on a particular issue. Interestingly, when the breakfast discussion was seeking to forge Opposition unity as a principle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was addressing his party MPs in the Parliament House. But he seemed busy denouncing the Opposition as always, and dwelling on minor technicalities and the conduct of some opposition MPs in Parliament — in short avoiding the issues that have led to the massive logjam in the Monsoon Session.

Is this a new turn in the country’s politics? A party like the Shiv Sena would not have made the cut in previous editions of Opposition unity platforms led by the Congress.