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By:

Akhilesh Sinha

25 June 2025 at 2:53:54 pm

Congress tries a ‘third’ hand

New Delhi: The BJP latest manoeuvre in elevating Nitin Nabin as the party’s national working president has had consequences in Maharashtra’s two biggest cities - Mumbai and Pune. The result has left the Congress party in a curiously ambivalent mood: quietly pleased by the opportunities created, yet wary of the turbulence ahead. In Maharashtra, the immediate beneficiary of the BJP’s move is Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. The BJP’s organisational signal has strengthened its hand in the forthcoming...

Congress tries a ‘third’ hand

New Delhi: The BJP latest manoeuvre in elevating Nitin Nabin as the party’s national working president has had consequences in Maharashtra’s two biggest cities - Mumbai and Pune. The result has left the Congress party in a curiously ambivalent mood: quietly pleased by the opportunities created, yet wary of the turbulence ahead. In Maharashtra, the immediate beneficiary of the BJP’s move is Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. The BJP’s organisational signal has strengthened its hand in the forthcoming elections to the BMC, Asia’s richest civic body, and in Pune, the state’s second city. For Shinde, whose legitimacy still rests on a contentious split with the party founded by Bal Thackeray, any reinforcement from the BJP’s formidable machine is welcome. For Uddhav Thackeray, who leads the rival Shiv Sena (UBT), the message is ominous. His party, once the natural custodian of Marathi pride in Mumbai, now faces the prospect of being squeezed between a BJP-backed Sena on one side and a revived Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by his cousin, Raj Thackeray, on the other. Shotgun Alliance That pressure has forced Thackeray into an awkward embrace with his estranged cousin. A reunion of the Thackeray clans, long rumoured and often aborted, has unsettled Thackeray’s MVA ally - the Congress. Signals from the party’s high command suggest a calculated distancing from Shiv Sena (UBT), particularly in Mumbai, where Congress leaders are exploring arrangements with smaller parties rather than committing to a Thackeray-led front. In Pune, the party’s pragmatism is even more pronounced. Quiet efforts are under way to entice Ajit Pawar’s NCP, currently aligned with the BJP, into a tactical understanding for the civic polls. Control of the municipal corporation, even without ideological harmony, is the immediate prize. For the embattled Congress, the civic polls offer a chance to do two things at once. First, by keeping a degree of separation from the Uddhav–Raj combine, it can strengthen its own organisational sinews, which have atrophied after years of playing junior partner. Secondly, it can allow the BJP–Shinde Sena and the Thackeray cousins to polarise the Marathi vote between them, leaving Congress to position itself as a ‘third pole.’ Such a strategy is particularly tempting in Mumbai. A tie-up with outfits like Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) could help Congress consolidate minority, Dalit and tribal voters, constituencies it believes are more reliably mobilised without the ideological baggage of Thackeray’s Sena (UBT). Severing or loosening ties with Shiv Sena (UBT) would also simplify Congress’s messaging ahead of assembly elections elsewhere. In states such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where polls loom next year, the party has historically preferred alliances that allow it to emphasise secular credentials and oppose the BJP without accommodating overtly Hindu nationalist partners. Mixed Signals The Congress’ internal signals, however, are mixed. When talk of a Thackeray reunion resurfaced, Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar publicly welcomed it, arguing that Raj Thackeray’s limited but distinct vote share could help consolidate Marathi sentiment. Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad was more circumspect, hinting that alliances with parties prone to street-level militancy deserved scrutiny. Wadettiwar swiftly clarified that decisions would rest with the party’s senior leadership, underscoring the centralised nature of Congress’s calculus. In Pune, meanwhile, senior leaders are reportedly engaged in discreet conversations with Ajit Pawar, whose defection from his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP last year still reverberates through state politics. The outline of a broader strategy is becoming visible. Congress appears content to let the BJP and Shinde’s Sena draw on non-Marathi and anti-dynasty voters, the Thackerays appeal to wounded Marathi pride while it quietly rebuilds among minorities and lower-caste groups. Mumbai Approach Mumbai’s demography lends some plausibility to this approach. Alongside its Marathi core, the city hosts millions of migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, a constituency that has increasingly gravitated towards the BJP. Raj Thackeray’s strident rhetoric against North Indians, once electorally potent, now risks narrowing his appeal and complicating Uddhav Thackeray’s efforts to broaden his base. None of this guarantees success for Congress. Playing the ‘third pole’ is a delicate art. Yet, the Congress, struggling for survival, has few illusions about sweeping victories. Its aim, for now, is more modest – it is to survive, to remain relevant, and to exploit the cracks opened by its rivals’ rivalries. In Maharashtra’s civic chessboard, that may be advantage enough.

Judicial Rebuff

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

The Supreme Court of India has firmly rejected petitions seeking to expunge “socialist” and “secular” from the Preamble of the Constitution. This rebuke, nearly half a century after these terms were enshrined via the 42nd Amendment during the Emergency in 1976, underscores both the resilience of constitutional principles and the judiciary’s role as the guardian of India’s democratic ethos.


Critics have long pointed to its draconian context—the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi’s government—as grounds for its reassessment. But the judiciary was clear that timing alone does not invalidate legislative acts. The Court emphasized that these terms have since gained deep acceptance among Indians, becoming integral to the constitutional “weave.”


The Court delineated the Indian meanings of secularism and socialism, deflating objections rooted in rigid ideological frameworks. Secularism, it argued, was a facet of equality, mandating state neutrality in matters of faith and that it is not anathema to religious practices unless these impede public welfare or equity. Socialism, too, was recast not as an economic straitjacket but as a commitment to social justice and welfare, reflecting India’s mixed economy, where private enterprise thrives alongside public redistribution.


For the petitioners linked to the ruling BJP, this judicial verdict is a political setback. While their arguments resonated with segments critical of the Emergency-era legacy, they failed to convince the court of the harm caused by the inclusion of these words caused to governance or individual rights? Even the BJP, in its decades in power, has pursued economic liberalization and welfare programs without breaching the boundaries set by constitutional commitments.


The SC verdict means the BJP will now have to eschew courtroom theatrics for legislative reform. Parliament remains the proper forum to initiate such debates, and amendments require the assent of two-thirds of both houses, followed by ratification by half the state legislatures. This route, arduous though it may be, offers legitimacy that judicial decrees cannot.


The debate over secularism and socialism is not unique to India. Across the border, Bangladesh is wrestling with similar questions about its constitutional identity. Attorney General Mohammad Asazzaman recently proposed to remove “secularism” and “socialism” as guiding principles from the Bangladeshi Constitution. Unlike India, where these principles have been adapted to reflect its unique pluralistic ethos, Bangladesh’s approach signals a retreat from foundational ideals.


Either way, if the BJP intends to reshape the constitutional ethos in order to prove the detriment done by including secularism and socialism as part of the Constitution, the SC verdict proved it will have to do more to first convince the country of its vision. For now, the Court has reaffirmed that the Preamble is not just a preface but the soul of the Constitution.

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