The Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was formed with a great deal of fanfare on July 18, 2023, a few months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Although it didn’t win the election, the INDIA bloc gave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a run for its money.The BJP lost as many as 63 seats and its tally came down from 303 to 240, 32 short of the majority mark in the House. A loss of another 20 seats would surely have seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi out of office. He was lucky he survived by the skin of his teeth with the support of an unprincipled Nitish Kumar and a selfish Chandra Babu Naidu.In the elections, the Congress party won enough seats (99) for its floor leader Rahul Gandhi to be formally recognised as the Leader of Opposition. But since then, the BJP has won a number of state level elections and regained its mojo. Modi has gone back to his old ways and is doing what he is best at doing: spreading communalism, destroying institutions and stifling democracy.The INDIA bloc has been making some noises but it is nothing more than a cry in the wilderness. Given these circumstances what should the bloc do? Let me attempt an answer based on my long experience of coalition politics in India.First, it has to realise that the country is facing an existential crisis. The forces of darkness that stood defeated in the run up to the country’s independence and had nothing to do with it have not only raised its head again but are clearly in ascendance now and if not defeated in time, will pose long-term danger to its future.No country can progress economically, socially and politically on the shifting sands of communalism and yet that is what the BJP is trying to do; not that it believes in Hinduism but because it has become a handy tool for misguiding people and garnering their votes. The time to defeat these forces is now. By tomorrow it may be too late.The INDIA bloc must therefore act on a number of fronts without losing any more time. What it needs is ideological clarity, a clear vision of the future, organisational cohesion and an action plan to meet the challenges created by a developing situation. My suggestions to achieve these goals are as follows.The bloc should set up a committee of in-house and outside intellectuals to prepare a vision document for India, containing an alternative set of values and a programme of action to take on the BJP’s divisive politics.On the organisational side, it should set up a committee of equals (COE) consisting of the heads of all the alliance parties to do away with petty quarrels relating to who is more important and who should have precedence over whom.In this supreme committee, everyone will be equal. For practical purposes, the principal could nominate an alternate to represent him or her in case they are unable to attend a particular meeting. This committee will be the supreme policy-making body of the alliance and will have all the authority to take the final decision on all matters.Under the COE, there should be an empowered steering committee consisting of one important leader each from the alliance parties. The steering committee should take all the day to day decisions which are in the alliance’s interest.The INDIA bloc should immediately set up a strong secretariat headed by a secretary general and consisting of other office bearers. The bloc should find a good address where the secretariat could be located. The secretariat will be the locomotive which pulls the alliance train. This formula should also be followed at the state, district and lower levels. Immediate attention should be paid to form booth committees, specially in states which are going to polls in the near future.Consensus should be the mantra of the alliance. I can say without fear of contradiction that the Janata Dal which was formed in 1989 and defeated the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections the same year was formed on the basis of consensus, survived as long as that consensus lasted and broke into pieces as soon as the consensus was over.Like the INDIA bloc, the Janata Dal was also not going anywhere because though it was formed as one party, it was still an alliance of all its constituents – the Jan Morcha, the Janata party represented separately by Chandra Shekhar, Ram Krishna Hegde and Ajit Singh and the Lok Dal of Chaudhary Devi Lal.Hegde, who was the chief minister of Karnataka at the time, realised this and invited Arun Nehru representing the Jan Morcha, Sharad Yadav representing Devi Lal, Ajit Singh representing his faction of Janata party, and me representing Chandra Shekhar to meet him in Bangalore.We discussed the state of affairs in the party and informally constituted a committee consisting of the five of us to run the affairs of the party. Ajit Singh was the secretary general of the party but he realised that as an important political leader, he would be required to campaign extensively, specially in Uttar Pradesh, and would therefore not be in a position to handle the day-to-day affairs regularly. Hence, it was decided that I, already a general secretary of the party, should take over the responsibility of the party office and also of its chief spokesperson. The only condition was that since I was already a member of Rajya Sabha, I should not contest the Lok Sabha election and devote all my time to the party and manage its election campaign.We functioned extremely well with the five-member group taking all important decisions for the party including distribution of tickets on the basis of consensus. Sometimes, the decisions taken by us were not liked by our leaders but we carried on. Consensus became the key as far as the functioning of the party was concerned.This consensus was destroyed when Chandra Shekhar was cheated in the parliamentary party leadership election in the central hall of parliament. The leaders agreed to make Devi Lal the leader of the parliamentary party in the meeting held in Orissa Bhavan and then without informing Chandra Shekhar changed that decision in the central hall. Consensus was given an unceremonious burial that day and along with it was buried the future prospect of the party too.I am recounting this old story only to emphasise that the way forward for the INDIA bloc also lies through the path of consensus.The bloc is up against a formidable opponent. The BJP has a strong organisational base right down to the booth level in most parts of the country, it has money and state power, it is completely devoid of morality and it knows the consequences of losing power. Holding on to power is a matter of life and death for it. It must win all elections from panchayat to parliament. The other parties are not as committed.INDIA must not only be an alliance of political parties; it should become a movement. Twitter alone will not do. The leaders must hit the streets with issues which affect the people. They must go to jail, if needed. The days of sitting in air-conditioned offices are over. The mantra is act now or be damned forever.Yashwant Sinha is a former finance minister and former external affairs minister of India.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.
