Resurgent Congress under the leadership is definitely a worry for BJP. This is because the new alignment, BJP versus others are gaining momentum through the protest against the Land acquisition bill. Sonia Gandhi leading a “united opposition” in a protest march to Rashtrapati Bhawan had all the necessary ingredients to grab headlines. Even the congress men had forgotten their vice president Rahul Gandhi. Nobody was talking about the leave or absence of Rahul Gandhi. May be his presence in the political arena of this country is not at all noteworthy.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who has been the principal architect of the amendments to the bill said, "Congress has adopted obstructionism both as a strategy and now almost as an ideology. The amendments to the land bill are entirely in favour of rural India, it seeks to provide housing to poor and create infrastructure. It is a negative politics of obstructionism which is intended to keep India backwards. If Congress has serious objection, the ordinance gives discretion to State government to continue under old law."

Under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, “14 different parties” have joined in this protest. It looked like a list of UPA 1 & 2 allies, including outside supporters - TMC, DMK, NCP, IUML, CPI, CPM, JD(S), SP. JD (U) and INLD are the new additions. The realignment of the opposition parties till now avoiding congress after its dismal performance in the assembly elections after the Lok Sabha drub and Delhi’s Zero performance, will have to be a great concern for the ruling group. Even though BJP need not worry on numbers in Lok Sabha de to its own majority, it has to ensure that congress is not getting revived in the states where elections are due in the near future.

By Premji