Telangana politics is taking an interesting turn. Over the months, right since the Congress party made the first state government in Telangana in November, 2023, there has been a continuous flow of MLAs from the BRS to the Congress. As of 7th July, six MLAs have already switched over in addition to several other BRS leaders. While defection from the loosing party to the winning party in the aftermath of elections have turned quite common nowadays, the Telangana case demands some special attention.
For one thing, this is nothing new for Telangana. The infant state has been witness to large scale defection right since its’ first elections in 2014. It’s just that since 2023 the tide of defections has changed it’s direction. The BRS has been replaced by the Congress as the major beneficiary of these defections.
The defections have certainly for the time being strengthened the Congress’s position in the Assembly, which won a great victory in 2023 but with a slim majority. The BRS on the other hand is at its’ all time low, marked by defections, but also a drastic fall in popularity. But this strategy of the Congress to poach MLAs doesn’t seem to be a good strategy in the long run. First and foremost, it is based on a fallacious assumption that in a bi-party system, decimating the opposition is a route to enjoying eternal power. But historical evidence suggest that this is hardly the case.
Politics never runs in void. In a democracy, no matter how powerful the government seem in it’s heyday, there is always space for opposition. And in this case, the slow demise of BRS is clearly providing the BJP ground to flourish. This is evident from the recent Lok Sabha elections, wherein the BJP equaled the Congress’ seat tally at 8. Secondly, absorbing a legislature party and actually decimating the party on ground are two different things. The Congress party repeatedly lost MLAs in the post 2018 election period. At one point, it even lost its position as the chief opposition party loosing 13 MLAs between 2018 and June 2019.
But this decline in strength in assembly was never a viable parameter of its’ actual strength on the ground. And this resulted in the BRS’s stunning defeat. Thirdly, the popular opinion in India seems to be turning aversive to engineered defections and defectors at large. As per a report of The print, 69 of the 110 defectors fielded by the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections lost. BJP’s losses in Maharashtra may be another case in point. Finally, this Congress strategy weakens the Congress and the India bloc’s narrative of ‘save democracy ‘.
A democracy thus demand tolerating if not appreciating and respecting a viable opposition. This is not just moral but also pragmatic. As Democracies , particularly Indian democracy is marked by the impermanence of governments. Just as today’s Opposition is tomorrow prospective Government, the same holds vice versa.