Modi versus who? Will the opposition bite the bullet and name its PM candidate?

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has categorically stated that there was no discussion regarding the Prime Ministerial candidate in the June 23 meeting of the opposition parties in Patna.

This seems to be a contentious issue given that there are many claimants to the post. Prominent among them being former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Pawar could have been another serious contender but his failing health is likely to be a hurdle and he is expected to play an important role in drafting the strategy.

The BJP had attacked the opposition's Patna conclave, labeling the participants as "19 prime ministerial aspirants."

Being the main opposition party with its presence across the country, the Congress has the first right of refusal. That means the grand old party's leader has the best chance to become the opposition's Prime Ministerial candidate.

However, the big question is whether the opposition will take the bull by its horns and name its joint candidate before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls or wait for the election outcome and then take a call.

The problem in delaying the name is that voters nowadays are keen to know who is going to be their Prime Minister or a Chief Minister. In rare cases where the anti-incumbency is very strong against the present government, it has been seen that the voters want to know the choices they have to make it easier for them to cast their ballot accordingly.

Post 2014, the debate going on in the country is to know the potential candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Modi versus who debate has dominated the political discourse in the country for many years now.

Till his nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra, a majority of the people in this country did not consider Rahul Gandhi an alternative to Modi. His frequent foreign sabbaticals had resulted in the creation of an image of a non-serious politician who wants to enjoy life and stay away from the heat and dust of elections.

But that perception has now changed. Through his five-month-long yatra, Rahul Gandhi has managed to earn some goodwill among a section of the people. He is in fact seen as a potential Prime Ministerial aspirant.

However, the apprehension among the opposition camp is that still a large number of people do not accept him as an alternative to Modi.

And if he himself decides to opt out of the race at least in the upcoming elections, in that case it could be Nitish Kumar or Kharge or even Uddhav Thackeray whose handling of the Covid pandemic in Maharashtra as the chief minister had earned him kudos from cross-section of the people.

But that is only if the opposition doesn't delay the decision. Some parties are in favour of that, arguing that the decision should be taken after the polls as had happened in 2004 when no one dared to stand against the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose popularity had crossed all barriers. However, he lost the elections despite the super electrifying India Shining campaign.

The BJP lost the elections and the Congress successfully cobbled up a coalition of various parties, including the Left to form the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that went on to rule the country for ten years till Modi-led BJP assumed reins of the central government in 2014 and retained power in 2019.

The opposition is hoping to see a repeat of 2004 but there is a difference between the BJP under Modi and the BJP under Vajpayee.

The saffron party, in the past nine years, has become a well-oiled formidable election fighting machine that is ever ready to take head on its challengers.

That is why 2024 will be a real hard slog for the opposition.