Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Saturday detailed the "organisational and strategic failures" of the opposition
in the aftermath of the recent Bihar elections, saying that the INDIA bloc is currently "on life support" and risks being wheeled into the "ICU". Talking about the INDIA bloc's current "health", he called out issues within the Opposition, such as infighting and compared its approach with the BJP's "unparalleled" work ethic. "We're sort of on life support, but every once in a while, somebody brings out his paddles and gives us a bit of a shock, and we get up again. But then, unfortunately, results like Bihar happen, and we slump down again, and then somebody has to wheel us into the ICU," he said while speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. Abdullah also blamed the INDIA bloc for the return of Nitish Kumar to the BJP-led NDA, saying, "I believe that we pushed Nitish Kumar back into the arms of the NDA." Pointing to the alliance's failure to take a cohesive view, he cited the decision to consciously exclude the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) from the Bihar seat-sharing arrangement despite the party's presence in the state. He compared this to the electioneering of the BJP and said the opposition alliance is structurally unable to compete with the ruling party's disciplined approach. "They have an unparalleled election machine," he said, noting that this strength goes beyond mere organisation and funding. "They also have an incredible work ethic in terms of how they deal with elections... They fight every election as if their lives depend on it. We sometimes fight elections as if we don't care," he said.
Opposition dismantled in Bihar election
In the recently concluded Bihar elections, the ruling NDA got 202 seats, with BJP emerging as the single-largest party (89), a three-fourths majority in the 243-member House.
The Opposition's Mahagatbandhan, led by the RJD, suffered a major loss, with the Tejashwi Yadav-led party finishing the election as the third-largest party with just 25 seats, despite contesting more than 140 seats.
The Congress, which contested 61 seats, engaging in "friendly fights" with allies in many of these, proved to be dead wood in Bihar, winning only 6 seats.
(With PTI inputs)
