The parties that make up India’s Opposition, starved of unity, a common platform and, most importantly, electoral success, have cut a rather sorry figure for themselves. There are a number of reasons that explain their plight. The most significant, among these, has been the lack of political unity. This is because a number of Opposition parties that have made noises of coming together to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the national level remain political adversaries in numerous states. A year before the next general elections, it appears that the Opposition is desperate to find that elusive glue that would make it stick together. The solution it has come up with could well go by the name of ‘Nitish Kumar formula’. At a recent meeting which featured Mr Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, it was apparently agreed that the only way to take the battle to the BJP would be the forging of the broadest possible front of Opposition parties. This makes eminent sense. Allowing the best-placed member of the Opposition to take on the BJP in its stronghold would consolidate the anti-BJP vote whose rupture has often helped the saffron party win tight contests. This strategy also has the potential of calming down regional outfits nervous about the Congress leading the Opposition’s charge. A truly united Opposition can be a formidable force of change, as was evident in 1977.

The task of uniting a disparate Opposition has been judiciously divided. Mr Kharge reportedly would reach out to parties that are the Congress’s allies. Mr Kumar has been given the more onerous task: he would try and bring in those outfits that compete with the Congress. Stitching up such an alliance is a Herculean challenge. Mr Kumar’s political mettle would be tested to the limits as he attempts to bring the anti-Congress parties under a common banner. But such a thing is not improbable: Maharashtra, where the Congress joined hands with the erstwhile Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party to keep the BJP out, serves as an example. Many of the political turfs between the Congress and the smaller parties are likely to overlap, leading to a conflict of interest. Subterranean competition about being the ‘face’ of the Opposition could also open up divisions. But these chasms can be bridged with the help of frequent consultations. By endorsing Mr Kumar’s lead, the Congress has already indicated its willingness to be accommodating. The magnanimity and the political prudence to take a step back for the sake of the larger battle to save democracy should be a shared trait among the parties in the Opposition camp.