A DEPLETED FORCE

The nation's Opposition is at a precarious juncture. Even more worrying than its internal contradictions is the disillusionment of the electorate, which has seemingly lost faith in its ability to bring about change

- By KAUSHIK DEKA

The INDIA TODAY Mood of the Nation (MOTN), January 2026, survey captures the Opposition at a moment that is politically more precarious than it appears on the surface.

Nowhere is the Opposition, and particularly the Congress, a decisive presence anymore. It speaks often, protests loudly, and occupies the moral high ground with conviction, yet struggles to translate any of this into political leverage. The electorate has not turned away from the Opposition. It has simply stopped expecting much from it.

At the centre of this uneasy equilibrium remains Rahul Gandhi. He continues to be the most recognisable Opposition face, with 28.6 per cent of the respondents seeing him as best suited to lead the Opposition alliance, virtually unchanged from August 2025. The ambivalence becomes clearer when voters are asked to judge Rahul's performance as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. A combined 44 per cent rate his performance ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’, but nearly 31 per cent also view it as ‘poor/very poor’. What's worse: this is a six percentage point drop, from the 50 per cent positive rating in August '25.