Effective Coalition Or Paper Tiger? The Split Reality Of The Anti-BJP INDIA Bloc

Effective Coalition Or Paper Tiger? The Split Reality Of The Anti-BJP INDIA Bloc Written By, Last Updated: May 20, 2026, 15:20 IST The INDIA bloc’s biggest challenge is that it still lacks a settled answer to a basic question: is it merely an anti-BJP platform, or a genuine long-term political coalition? Rapid Read AI generated image of Mamata Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and MK Stalin, all part of the INDIA bloc. If the INDIA bloc looks united in Parliament, it is because Delhi is the one place where its contradictions can still be temporarily managed. Outside it, the alliance often resembles less a cohesive coalition and more a ceasefire between rivals waiting for the next state election to begin fighting each other again. Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “upholding India’s honour abroad" has once again exposed the awkward reality at the heart of the opposition alliance: while INDIA parties unite against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Union government nationally, many of them remain fierce competitors regionally, with conflicting ambitions, incompatible politics and deep distrust simmering beneath the surface. Strong Inside Parliament, Fragile Outside It As a legislative bloc, INDIA has often functioned cohesively. Opposition parties have jointly cornered the government on issues ranging from Manipur violence and unemployment to electoral bonds, federalism and institutional autonomy. Coordinated walkouts, floor strategy and joint protests have given the alliance visibility as a united anti-BJP front. ALSO READ | One Alliance, Many Battles: How 2026 Poll Results Have Exposed INDIA Bloc’s Fault Lines But that unity repeatedly collapses the moment electoral politics enters the picture. The clearest examples are emerging across states where INDIA allies are effectively fighting parallel political battles against each other while trying to preserve their own regional ecosystems. West Bengal In West Bengal, the INDIA bloc barely exists on the ground. Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress views Congress and the Left not as partners, but as its principal rivals in the state. The TMC and the Congress did not form an alliance for the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections primarily due to deep structural disagreements over seat-sharing, distinct national versus state-level strategies, and friction caused by contemporary political developments. Despite both being member parties of the INDIA bloc, local ambitions and mutual distrust caused them to run completely independent campaigns. The result was catastrophic. TMC lost the elections, and the BJP came to power for the first time in the state. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, TMC largely fought alone despite remaining formally inside the INDIA framework. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has openly blamed the Congress for failing to cooperate with regional allies, which fractured opposition votes and allowed the BJP to gain ground. Consequently, TMC leadership argued that they could not risk strengthening the national alliance at the cost of their own clear state-level dominance. Uttar Pradesh On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav indicated that his party’s alliance with the Congress would continue in the 2027 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh but remained evasive on who would be the opposition face. In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress and Samajwadi Party have cooperated electorally against the BJP, but tensions over seat sharing and leadership constantly surfaced beneath the surface. Yadav has carefully ensured that SP remains the dominant opposition pole in UP while limiting Congress’s revival space. Congress, meanwhile, sees UP as too politically important to permanently remain a junior ally. The contradiction is structural: Congress wants long-term revival in Hindi heartland states, while regional allies want Congress restricted to limited pockets. Maharashtra perhaps best captures the chaos inside INDIA. The Maha Vikas Aghadi experiment brought together Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), but beneath the alliance lies constant friction over leadership, cadre conflicts and political positioning. Sharad Pawar’s remarks on PM Modi are only the latest example of divergent messaging within the bloc. But this is not the first time Pawar has supported PM Modi. After the Modi government revoked Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, Pawar did not aggressively oppose the move in the way many opposition parties did. Instead, he cautioned against excessive politicisation and said many people in the country supported the decision. During the pandemic, Pawar repeatedly called for political consensus and publicly backed coordination with the Centre. At several points, he praised PM Modi’s outreach efforts and stressed that national crises required cooperation instead of confrontation. One of the biggest moments came when in a departure from the Opposition’s jibes, Pawar said personal