THE ambitious West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee has launched her campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. And her appeal is straight -- all parties must form a united national front against Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, and ensure that he is not able to return to the podium in 2024. Obviously, she is trying to revive an outdated political script that was proved useless in 2014 and 2019, buoyed by her landslide victory in her State’s legislative elections two-and-a-half months ago. Obviously, she thinks that she can have a nationwide influence to lead the Opposition camp in the next general election. It is also obvious that Ms. Mamata Banerjee is in her own paradise -- allowing herself the luxury of thinking that she can equal Mr. Narendra Modi’s popular appeal. But then, Ms. Mamata Banerjee is not alone in that league. She has good company -- whose members are all eager to starting marching in different directions at the snap of fingers.

 

There are at least a few more Opposition leaders who think that they, too, can be prime ministerial candidates. This is a repeat script -- taken in ditto from the past two general elections. Before 2014, this particular camp thought in terms of a third front. For, then, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the Congress party, formed the first front. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), formed the second front. So, the rest thought of a third front -- which a few political observers described as ‘Third Affront’. That derisive epithet fitted well. For, in the name of so-called unity of like-minded, Left-of-the-centre political parties, all bought a common banner, but bargained secretly for different paths. The result: A political farce whose script has been handed down by several generations of political chieftains to their juniors. The outcome was obvious. Despite this, the Opposition have refused to learn the right lessons. Ms. Banerjee’s call for Opposition unity is the latest example of that futile exercise. It is clear to the people that the Opposition parties have failed to come up with a new idea, a fresh script to defeat a phenomenon called Mr. Narendra Modi.

 

They are still trying to follow the old rut using old concepts and words -- like ‘secularism’, ‘liberalism’ -- to resist the unstoppable Modi juggernaut. And to make matters worse -- and also farcical -- they do not seem to ponder as to why Mr. Modi is unstoppable. Out of that ignorance and arrogance, they are trying to pick up the old script to combat Mr. Narendra Modi who rewrote national political narrative by his pragmatism, first as Gujarat’s Chief Minister for over a decade, and then as Prime Minister for the past seven years. And what a sweep of this new narrative! It covers areas as diverse as foreign policy and rural development, agriculture and culture, history and science, space science and oceanic studies, youth welfare and women’s well being ...!

 

The Opposition parties have no answer to any of these components of the new narrative promoted by Mr. Narendra Modi and his associates in the Government as well as in other domains. They do not know how to counter this fantastic dynamics generated by Mr. Modi’s initiative in consonance with a grander plan of nation-building as per Indian ethos mingled expertly with modernism. That is why Ms. Mamata Banerjee stands up and makes an appeal as per the old script. True, she would add some newer and dirtier dimensions to her political game-plan by pushing disinformation about the Prime Minister. But she would not realise that that narrative is not going to make even a dent in Mr. Modi’s profile as a national leader of rare merit. Of course, a strong Opposition is need in democracy -- so that those in power can have an effective counter provided they slip at some point. And to offer such a counter is not a matter of cheap political games. It calls for a deep thought to produce a new narrative. Does the Opposition have the capacity to script such an alternate narrative? The outcome of Ms. Banerjee’s appeal to form a united national front against Mr. Narendra Modi would depend on the correct answer to this complex question.