The Reluctant Prezmakers

Little hope of winning makes finding a presidential candidate a tough task for an unenthused Opposition

- G.C. Shekhar

A birthday celebration without the birthday boy? Nothing could have been more symbolic of the quandary the country’s Oppo­sition parties find themselves in. The top leaders will be in Chennai on June 3 to attend the mega birthday rally of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M. Karunani­dhi (he turns 94) and also celebrate his 60 years as a legislator—a national rec­ord. The only hitch—the birthday boy would not be seen at the public func­tion, confined as he is to his bedroom for the past six months.

It’s quite unfortunate, considering that Tamil Nadu’s marathon man has always been fond of felicitations. Even if those hosannas wouldn’t reach those ears, the leaders mouthing them would surely hope to somehow whip up a winning formula, which has been eluding them so far, to combat Narendra Modi’s growing political stature and near-invincibility.

Their latest battle—to elect the next president—is also woefully loaded against them. They have not shown the intent or cunning to counter the BJP’s game plan to get its nominee elected as Pranab Mukherjee’s successor. Instead, there is a meek acceptance that the BJP-led ruling combine would comfortably send its nominee to Rashtrapati Bhavan as it has more numbers than it needs. “Sonia Gandhi’s lunch did not kick up any strategy to wean away the non-NDA parties such as K. Chandrashekar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress or Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal. There was just a passing mention that these three parties would sail with the NDA because they do not want to be seen with the losing side,” admits a senior DMK leader, almost accepting the inevitability of defeat.