The fledgling attempts at creating opposition unity on the ground in the light of discussions that were initiated by Congress president Sonia Gandhi have proved a nonstarter, with the turf-specific fault lines proving too strong to overcome, at least for now.

The joint protests that were scheduled between September 20-30 have only been held in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana and Bihar where Congress and other dominant parties are either in opposition or in the ruling alliance. Otherwise, the protests have largely been a Congress affair.

The joint protests against BJP were announced by a declaration after a meeting of the opposition parties chaired by Sonia Gandhi on August 20. The idea behind holding joint protests was to translate the anti-BJP consensus at the leadership level to a grassroots alliance, which would prepare the parties for a possible seat-sharing in states for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

An ambitious intent, the protests were being watched for what happens in places where Congress and some regional parties have been at loggerheads for a long time like in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

West Bengal has proved the biggest dampener as Mamata Banerjee‘s participation in Sonia Gandhi’s meeting has not stopped her from being at her confrontational best with Congress and the Left. Nor have rivals Congress and CPM come together in Kerala.

While JD(S) participated in the opposition meeting, it was not part of the Congress-Left protests in Karnataka and held separate shows, sources said. The opposition had announced that while SP leader Akhilesh Yadav could not attend the meeting, he had given his nod to the joint declaration. However, SP and Congress have been without any coordination in Lucknow and there has been little hope of their joining hands. In fact, given the assembly elections in coming months, Akhilesh has been at pains to underline that he will have no tie-up with Congress.

Realising the tenuousness of the unity attempts and the sensitivities of “allies” about their political turfs, AICC general secretary incharge of organisation K C Venugopal had shot off a letter to all Congress state units underlining the schedule of the protest while urging them to take the initiative to coordinate with state units of like-minded parties.

(With inputs from agencies)