A NON-CONGRESS OPPOSITION?

Can the Opposition form a bloc without the Congress? Speaking on Newsx-sunday Guardian Roundtable, Pavan Varma pointed out that the entire non Congress parties from Kerala to West Bengal (except Karnataka) account for 162 seats. So if we form a non Congress opposition then we are short of what is needed for a majority. Congress fights about 175 seats directly against the BJP in the North and West. Unless Congress improves its tally when in a direct fight with the BJP a non Congress opposition is not strong enough, so Congress has to get the seats. Suhel Seth agreed but added that a non-bjp alliance has to have a pivot, which cannot be Rahul Gandhi. BJD’S Kalikesh Singh Deo said BJP and Congress fight each other essentially in the North, while in a large part of South and East comprises regional parties where not everyone is attuned to the North Indian way of thinking, so a non Congress, non BJP alliance of regional players will be a very good sign for democracy. Ex Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha pointed out that a non-congress opposition is not possible. All Congress needed to stop the BJP was 145 seats in 2014, so he suggested that instead of Uttar Pradesh, the party should focus on the low hanging fruit. In the last elections, the BJP won 175 seats of the 195 where Congress and BJP were in a direct fight. What they all agree on is that such a coalition needs a very strong message. On a lighter note, when Sanjay Jha defended Rahul Gandhi claiming that he was much misunderstood and was actually very “chilled out”, Suhel Seth quipped that what the Congress needed was a leader, not a refrigerator.