By aiding defections, the BJP is shrinking opposition spacein an unseemly fashion

The near liquidation of the Congress legislature party inGoa, close on the heels of a rebellion of Congress and Janata Dal (Secular)legislators in neighbouring Karnataka, is the latest aftershock of the nationalelection results in May, but it is unlikely to be the last. The BJP’s victoryin the 17th general election was not unexpected, but its scale and depth appearto have thrown opposition politics into a tailspin. The Assembly election in2017 had returned a hung Assembly in Goa, with the Congress as the singlelargest party at 17 of 40 seats. The BJP had only 13, but was quick to cobbletogether a coalition and form a government. As things stand, the BJP has 27MLAs and the Congress only five, with the defectors set to escapedisqualification under the anti-defection law since they constitute two-thirdsof the strength of the legislature party — turning the verdict on its head.This split in the Congress was in the making since May 23 when the party lostthree of the four by-elections that were held along with the Lok Sabha polls.Any hope of a bid for power in the State was dashed, and with the party’snational standing continuing on a descending slope, the lawmakers did whatopportunism impels. Any party is well within its rights to lure members of otherparties, and after all, that is how political realignments take place. But byencouraging and welcoming defectors who had won the election on a platform thatwas its polar opposite, the BJP has further lowered the bar for legitimatedemocratic processes and expansion of the party.

Apparently learning from the cost of its indecision in Goain 2017, the Congress had moved swiftly to offer the post of chief ministershipto the JD(S) that had won 37 seats out of 224 in Karnataka in 2018. Initiallyhailed by many as a potential model to build an anti-Hindutva coalitionnationally, the JD(S)-Congress coalition has exposed its inherentcontradictions. There is little that the current spectrum of Opposition partieshave to offer to build a better politics other than their tired dynasties.Opportunistic alliances, devoid of any fresh ideas or inspiration, could onlyaugment the BJP’s plank that its opponents have a dark history and a bleakfuture. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s abrupt renunciation of thepost has forced a churn in the party, perhaps as was intended. It is, however,difficult to predict whether the party will emerge stronger from the churn: thewithdrawal of Mr. Gandhi from the leadership is an opportunity for the Congressto rid itself of the dynasty tag, but equally it could be left rudderless forlong in the absence of an obvious successor. If the party is looking for ayouthful leader, there is none outside of the scions of other politicaldynasties. The Goa debacle is as much a harbinger of a further shrinking of theopposition space as it is of the continuing advance of the BJP into moreregions and social groups. Grace in defeat is difficult to achieve; the BJP’sbehaviour perhaps shows that even in triumph it is not easy.