A fresh war of words broke out between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Thursday after Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of breaking up opposition parties. The BJP hit back sharply, arguing that the so-called INDIA, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, is falling apart entirely on its own, undone by its own conduct and the incompetence of its leadership.
Ramesh's charge: a cynical push for a two-thirds majority
Jairam Ramesh alleged that Amit Shah has been engineering splits within opposition parties and is now cleverly trying to engineer a two-thirds majority in Parliament. He warned that achieving such a majority through these means would amount to a direct insult to the Constitution. Ramesh went further, describing any majority secured this way as a stain on democracy. The remark drew a swift and multi-pronged response from the BJP within hours.
Trivedi asks whether the INDIA bloc even exists
BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi responded pointedly to Ramesh's allegation. He said the opposition's so-called INDIA alliance was built on contradictions, frustration and a hunger for power from the very start. Trivedi also alleged that opposition parties formed the alliance out of frustration and jealousy toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to him, the alliance is now visibly disintegrating because of its own actions and the failures of its leadership.
Trivedi directly questioned whether the INDIA alliance genuinely exists at all. He asked whether the Congress has formally informed the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman, in writing, about exactly which parties are members of the INDIA alliance, and whether it has been confirmed that all these parties have jointly chosen one person as their leader. Trivedi said that if no such formal structure exists, then blaming others for the collapse of something that does not really exist is a pointless attempt to mask one's own failures. He added that Congress would do better to engage in some self-reflection instead. Trivedi also alleged that the parties within the INDIA alliance, and their leaders, do not trust one another.
Sinha: every defection has followed the law
Another BJP spokesperson, Tuhin Sinha, dismissed Ramesh's allegation as completely wrong. He said every political realignment involving the BJP has taken place strictly within the framework of the anti-defection law and is entirely legal. Sinha said opposition leaders and members who choose to leave the opposition and join the BJP do so only after the party ensures that every provision of the anti-defection law is followed and respected in the process. The law itself bars elected representatives from switching parties except under specific, defined conditions, and the BJP's position is that every recent realignment has stayed within those conditions.
Sinha offered concrete examples to make his point. If, in compliance with the anti-defection law, 22 members of the Trinamool Congress were to break away and form a new party, or join another party, or if Uddhav Thackeray's party were to split and merge with another party, he asked, what fault would lie with the BJP in that. He described such realignments as simply part of the democratic process. Sinha added that there was a time when Congress commanded the numbers, but today it is the BJP that has the numbers. He called it entirely laughable to suggest that this strength had been gathered through illegal means, and said such claims only reflect the Congress's own frustration.
Delimitation becomes the next flashpoint
The exchange also extended to the contentious issue of delimitation, the periodic redrawing of electoral constituencies. Sinha rejected the Congress's opposition to the delimitation exercise, alleging that the party fears the process will weaken the dominance of political families. He pointed out that Jairam Ramesh has openly said Congress will strongly oppose delimitation, calling this a reflection of the party's sense of privilege. Sinha went as far as calling the Congress anti-youth and anti-women over its stance. The BJP spokesperson added that the delimitation process has been pending for a long time and that completing it would open up fresh opportunities for new entrants in politics.
