Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is in no rush to respond to West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s open letter last month calling on all opposition leaders across the country to join forces for a united front against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2024 general elections.
The reason behind that is no secret: After sweeping the Punjab polls and becoming the only non-BJP and non-Congress party to hold power in two states, the AAP is optimistic about its chances of becoming a direct challenger to the BJP at the national level. The young party is leaving no stone unturned to achieve that, as is evident from its preparations for the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat coming up towards the end of this year, and also from its efforts to expand its base in other states such as Goa and Telangana.
Besides, history is proof that such united fronts are not only incredibly difficult to cobble up, as was seen during the runup to the 2019 general elections, but also just as hard to keep together and run as a functional administrative regime – the nation witnessed this in full measure during the rule of the United Front (a coalition government of 13 political parties) that lasted barely for two years after coming to power in 1996.
Therefore, with an already undermined Congress seeming destined and determined to go down the road to political obscurity under the leadership of the Gandhi family, the AAP’s brightening prospects as a force that can replace the Grand Old Party as the primary national opposition party of the nation is good news for Indian democracy. It is always good to have options and hope – things that the Congress in its current state is no longer offering.
This is not to say, however, that Indians are direly looking for these things under the Narendra Modi government. The BJP did not return to power with an unprecedented majority in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections because the Indian public did not have any other option; the party retained the Centre because of the nation was pleased with the strong leadership of Prime Minister Modi and the performance of his government during the first term.
With the way the current ruling regime has deftly dealt with numerous challenges – such as the coronavirus pandemic since 2020, Chinese and Pakistani hostility along the LOC, and the Russia-Ukraine war over the past few months, to name just a few – Indians are more assured than ever before that their nation is in good hands.
Unlike Sri Lanka and Pakistan, where the ruling regimes have either been ousted (as PM Imran Khan) or are on the verge of being toppled (as the ruling Rajapaksa brothers) amid serious economic crisis, India stands tall as a stable and progressive power that has strong economic fundamentals, holds firm to its values and principles irrespective of international pressure, and helps other nations during their times of trouble.
These are things that make our country a veritable epitome of democracy.
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