‘Congress has no future’: BJP hits out after Chidambaram questions INDIA bloc’s stability

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday seized on senior Congress leader P Chidambaram’s public doubts about the stability of the opposition INDIA alliance, claiming that even close aides of Rahul Gandhi now accept that the Congress has no future.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said in a post on X, "Congress Leader P Chidambaram predicts: 'Opposition will not be intact in future, BJP is a formidable organisation'."
"Even Rahul Gandhi's close aides know Congress has no future," he added.

Chidambaram, speaking at the launch of the book Contesting Democratic Deficit by Salman Khurshid and Mritunjay Singh Yadav on Thursday, said he was unsure whether the opposition alliance — formed ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to counter the BJP — was still intact.

“The future (of the INDIA bloc) is not so bright,” he remarked. “It shows at the seams that it is frayed. It is only Salman (Khurshid) who can answer because he was part of the negotiating team for the INDIA bloc. If the alliance is totally intact, I will be very happy. But I am not sure.”

Reacting to Chidambaram’s statement, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari wrote on X, “Congress leader P Chidambaram predicts: ‘Opposition will not be intact in future, BJP is a formidable organisation’. Even Rahul Gandhi’s close aides know Congress has no future.”

Chidambaram, a Rajya Sabha MP and former Union finance minister, acknowledged that the INDIA alliance faces an uphill task against what he described as the BJP’s “formidable machinery”.

“In my experience and my reading of history, there has been no political party so formidably organised as the BJP. It is a machine behind a machine, and both control all the machineries in India — from the Election Commission to the lowest police station,” he said. “It is as much as can be allowed in a democracy.”

While conceding that the alliance appears frayed, he expressed hope that it can still be revived. “There’s still time,” he said.

Chidambaram also underlined the high stakes for Indian democracy in the run-up to the 2029 general elections. “If 2029 takes a decisive turn to strengthen the BJP, we are beyond repair. The elections are critical and must return us to a full-fledged democracy.”

His remarks found support from co-author and former Union minister Salman Khurshid, who said the concerns raised must be addressed urgently. “We have to be prepared for a very major battle in 2029. We must deal with how to get the alliance partners together,” Khurshid said.

He added that the opposition must think beyond seat-sharing to bring about a meaningful reversal in electoral trends. “If we only think about how many seats we will contest and what will happen after the results, we’ll miss the larger goal — which is to reshape the political narrative of the country.”

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) brought together multiple opposition parties with the aim of challenging the BJP-led NDA. However, differences over strategy and leadership have led to growing speculation about its coherence and future direction.