The Nationalist Congress Party’s Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule pointed out a stark contradiction in her recent Lok Sabha speech. Opposing the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, she noted that while the Narendra Modi government attempts to wrest bureaucratic control from the elected Delhi government, the BJP has successively promised full statehood to the people of Delhi in its election manifestos over the last two decades.Sule, who has received the best parliamentarian award multiple times since 2014, wasn’t the only one who spoke about the BJP’s doublespeak in the recently-concluded monsoon session of Parliament. A range of Opposition MPs from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) took turns to corner the Union government by identifying instances and issues where the Modi-led NDA government has acted decidedly against cooperative federalism, sabka saath, sabka vikaas and scam-free governance, which constantly feature in its slogans.The inimitable Mahua Moitra, a Trinamool Congress MP, questioned the prime minister’s poor attendance in Parliament, lampooning the idea of “if not Modi, who?”, while Congress leader Manish Tewari brought out references to highlight the Union government’s failures on national security matters, especially the continuing Chinese aggression at India’s borders. Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge led from the front to attack the government’s arrogance and indifference in dealing with the sectarian conflict in Manipur and communal violence in Haryana. Backing the INDIA MPs were leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi, who invoked rising radicalisation among Hindus in India while speaking about the recent selective killing of some Muslim men by a railway cop in a moving train.Also read: What the 2023 Monsoon Session of Parliament Tells Us About the State of GovernanceIn all matters debatable, the monsoon session belonged to the Opposition, which displayed rare unity in its ranks, even as the Union government rushed through 23 bills with its brute majority. The monsoon session was supposed to be the first test for the INDIA bloc, an opportunity to showcase ideological unity. Through the course of the session, INDIA MPs showed that the Opposition grouping is not a loose coalition brought together without a plan. Its leaders coordinated, acted and performed in unison. They met daily to decide on a common plan of action, unitedly appeared dressed in black to protest against Modi’s silence on Manipur, and even walked out of the Houses together. More importantly, they appeared to be serious about sticking together despite occasional differences, as could be seen when all of them eventually agreed to a no-trust motion.In contrast, the BJP MPs had no new weapon in their armour. As always, they invoked their hackneyed nationalist credentials, aggressively defended their government on the basis of contentious government data, and indulged in ad hominem attacks on Opposition leaders without feeling the need to offer a fresh perspective, or a narrative, in debates.Even the prime minister’s speech on the no-confidence motion, that lasted over two hours, resembled most of his previous speeches, including his focus on attacking the Congress much more than recounting his achievements. Modi and his ministers’ attempt to discount INDIA as “I.dot, N.dot, D.dot, I.dot, A.dot” in their speeches, and the prime minister dismissing the newly-formed Opposition grouping as “Ghamandiya” reflected the communication crisis that has plagued the BJP ever since the strategically-named INDIA bloc emerged. Rahul Gandhi, in fact, preempted the prime minister’s line of attack and hit out at Modi’s alleged “arrogance” in not intervening urgently on the Manipur violence. In the process, he effectively nullified the impact of the prime minister constant referring to INDIA as “Ghamandiya”.Also read: ‘No Trace of Sympathy’: Modi-Shah’s Reply to the Opposition in Parliament Was an Insult to ManipurThe monsoon session gave a significant operational window to the INDIA bloc to devise ways to work together. They seemed to rectify the mistakes they had made in their previous attempts to forge similar Opposition unity. They also appeared to be moving forward together to compete with the BJP’s greatest strength: communication. More importantly, the INDIA grouping displayed a sense of ideological unity among its ranks, as it offered a nationalist political narrative that looks much more inclusive than the BJP’s Hindu nationalism.