The age of the first alliance is two and a half years, the second one is one year.
The first major gathering of opposition parties after the Emergency was in 1977 in the form of the Janata Party against the Congress. Apart from the Left parties, all major parties like Socialist Party, Jan Sangh, Lok Dal came on one platform. The Janata Party formed the government in March 1977 by winning 295 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Morar G. Desai’s government collapsed in June 1979 due to a dispute over the post of prime minister. The opposition coalition was about two and a half years old. The second experiment was against the Congress in 1989, when Janata Dal leader Vishwanath Pratap Singh formed a Third Front government. His government received outside support from Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The government was formed in December 1989 and left within a year after the arrest of Lal Krishna Advani, the leader of the Ram Rath Yatra, in November 1990.
In the third experiment, the alliance of opposition parties lasted for two years.
The third test of the alliance took place in June 1996. It was different from the previous two experiences, this time the alliance of parties was not against the Congress government. The Congress backed a 13-party United Front government to prevent the largest party, the BJP, from coming to power. First HD Deve Gowda became the Prime Minister for 324 days, then Inder Kumar Gujral became the Prime Minister for 332 days. Withdrawal of support from the Congress led to re-election almost two years later. Even after that, coalition governments were formed in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009, but then all the constitutional parties, except the Left parties, became part of the government. After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, the era of coalition governments came to an end.
The India bloc leaders were separated for 18 months.
Before Narendra Modi’s third term in power, the opposition parties united in the 1977-style India Alliance. There was talk of creating a symbol of unity and a constitution, which went on and on. Who is the leader of India alliance? His decision has not yet been announced. The Congress, being the largest party in the opposition, retained control of the leadership. During this time elections were held in 13 states including Lok Sabha. In the assembly elections, the Congress was able to form the government in two states and its allies were able to form the government in two states. After this, questions started to arise on the self-proclaimed natural leadership of the Congress. The first challenge was given by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, then the Samajwadi Party joined in. Now Maratha leader Sharad Pawar has also supported Mamata Banerjee’s claim. There is talk that the demand for Uddhav Sena to leave this alliance has also increased in Shiv Sena.
In the elections, the leaders carried their parties on their shoulders.
Within 18 months, the India bloc has reached the brink of disintegration. The Congress, facing a leadership crisis, is facing challenges from many quarters. Due to continuous defeat, the satrap of the alliance has opened its front. Leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Abu Azmi, Sharad Pawar have also decided that now the India Block will run only on paper. It is also true that since June 2023, there have been only five formal meetings of the alliance, out of which leaders of all parties have come together in only three. Leaders of several parties, including the TMC, stayed away from both the meetings in Delhi. Major leaders of the alliance also did not come forward to campaign for other parties in the assembly elections. For example, in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana elections, leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar did not campaign in support of the India Bloc. In a big election like Maharashtra, Congress and Sharad Pawar campaigned alone.
The over-enthusiasm of the Congress kept the Allies at bay.
The alliance’s chances of survival were slim from day one. Founder member Nitish Kumar joined the BJP at the first opportunity before the Lok Sabha elections. Even in the Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party did not form an alliance with the Congress in Punjab, Delhi and Haryana. In West Bengal, Congress and Left parties also stood against Mamata Banerjee’s TMC. Akhilesh Yadav held a unity lodge in UP. In Kerala, the Left parties and the Congress faced each other. In Maharashtra too, the alliance contested the elections together, but their differences came to the fore in the assembly elections. Mehbooba Mufti became isolated in Jammu and Kashmir. In Congress-dominated states, the alliance remained keen on seats. The slight wave of opposition to the BJP that had risen in the Lok Sabha polls has waned in the assembly polls.
Now only 8 states and 2 union territories are governed.
Now the situation is that 8 states and 2 Union Territories are governed by India Bloc. CPI(M) is ruling in Kerala, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Bhagwant Mann in Punjab, Atishi Malirna in Delhi, Stalin in Tamil Nadu and Omar Abdullah in Jammu and Kashmir. Congress has no involvement in his government. Congress is in power in three states, where the other parties of the Indian coalition have nothing. In Jharkhand, Hemant Soren is running the government with only the support of Congress and RJD. In 2025, elections will be held in two states, Bihar and Delhi. In Delhi, Congress will take on India block partner AAP. In Bihar, he will have to compete with Tejashwi Yadav for the seats. Mamata Banerjee may also contest the 2026 West Bengal elections alone. That means India block is ready to expire at the age of 18 months.
