Media365
4 min readOct 9, 2026 05:37 PM IST
First published on: Oct 9, 2026 at 05:37 PM IST
Recent agitations in New Delhi and elsewhere have had the effect of resuscitating political opposition in India. We witnessed the first-ever protest-linked resignation of a Union minister in the Modi cabinet. Buoyed by this, we now see a coordinated campaign amongst the INDIA bloc on the SIR issue. These protests, some say, indicate the direction of political winds in upcoming elections. But this misses the larger point. The real question is not who the next prime minister will be but who will define the alternative to the present government. The requirements for national leadership must satisfy the tests of moral authority, ideological consistency and political imagination.
The Cockroach Janta Party has well and truly emerged as a force to reckon with. The way it coalesced simmering opposition to NEET into a common cry for education reforms is worth studying. Its biggest success was that it stood on its own, remained firm in the face of a crackdown and acted with imagination — imagination that has been sorely lacking in our political discourse.
It would have been altogether different if the CJP, lacking organisational structure, experience in real politicking and serious financial endowment, had fizzled out after the July 2026 protests. That they have not only survived but are now jostling for space with seasoned party machines shows how starved our politics has been of young voices, and of the imagination a new generation of leaders brings.
Allegations of manipulation of voter rolls have been doing the rounds for nearly a year now. Backed by news reports on apparent disagreements within the Election Commission of India, the voter rolls issue has received a much-needed second wind. Propelled by the CJP protests in Mumbai, the INDIA bloc has taken to the streets in New Delhi. Arrests of senior leadership of the Indian National Congress and other allied parties have rekindled opposition unity.
The issue has presented itself on a platter. But who will hold the opposition space over the next three years, till general elections are called, is unclear. On paper, the INDIA bloc is the largest conglomeration of opposition parties within the Houses of Parliament. But the real question is how much support they retain outside these halls. The fluid composition of the bloc also raises questions about what it represents. The exit of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its replacement by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam after the Tamil Nadu polls in May 2026 lead us to question the membership criteria of the INDIA bloc. Without a Member of Parliament in its tally, the TVK has been inducted into the alliance. When asked about the criteria for joining the alliance, the Tamil Nadu Congress state president said that “everyone fighting the RSS-BJP’s rule” is welcome. This reduction of the primary aim of the national alliance to opposition to the BJP remains one of the most serious weak links of this formation.
There is equal confusion about how parties join, or are invited to join, the INDIA Bloc. Although the BJD participated in protests on the SIR issue, it clarified that it has not joined the INDIA bloc. The bloc seems to function without structure or systems in place. The Trinamool Congress has expressed support for the INDIA protests but simultaneously also backed the CJP. Even within Parliament, there is no fixed common minimum agenda amongst these parties. The bloc fails to answer three basic questions: Who belongs to it, what does it stand for and who speaks for it?
The political ad hocism of the bloc means that its unity is merely in form. The AAP, BRS, BJD, DMK, YSRCP, SAD, and others today remain outside the fold of any alliance. The present moment is with the CJP and no future conversations around politics can overlook its relevance. This only shows that the door is still open for an alternative front that can provide a clear policy agenda, consistent moral leadership and, most importantly, modern political imagination.
The writer is DMK spokesperson and advocate, Madras High Court
