ALLIANCE GAMES

ENTRENCHMENT HAS BEGUN ON BOTH THE RULING SIDE AND IN THE OPPOSITION CAMP. NOW TO GO BEYOND THE SEMANTICS AND WORK THE POLL MATHEMATICS

- Kaushik Deka

July 18 will perhaps go down in Indian political history as the day the battle line for the 2024 Lok Sabha election was drawn-Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) versus the Opposition's INDIA. Only that INDIA here stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, the unwieldy new name coined only for its striking acronym and adopted by the alliance of 26 parties that assembled in Bengaluru in their quest to defeat Modi and his BJP war machine in next summer's general election. The same day, leaders of 38 parties gathered in Delhi under the banner of the BJP-led NDA to announce their intent to fight under the leadership of Modi for the third consecutive time.

Buoyed by their smart wordplay, the Opposition alliance declared it would be a battle between the idea of India and Modi's NDA. West Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee thrilled to the phonetic symbolism, asking: "NDA, can you challenge INDIA? BJP, can you challenge INDIA? Other people, can you challenge INDIA?" Not someone used to getting outsmarted, Modi gave a new definition to NDA-New India, Development and Aspirations of the People-driven by "pure intent, a clear policy and decisiveness" while calling the Opposition alliance a "conclave of the corrupt" whose mantra is "of, by, and for the family". Though officially held to celebrate 25 years of the NDA, there was no masking the electoral imperative as it was the first such gathering of the NDA allies since coming to power a second time in 2019.