At the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi on December 6, 2025, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah sounded a stark warning about the state of India’s main opposition coalition. In a candid and at times wry address, Abdullah described the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc as “on life support,” its future uncertain amid persistent infighting, organizational missteps, and an inability to keep pace with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) formidable election machinery.
Abdullah, never one to mince words, painted a vivid picture of the alliance’s struggles since its formation in July 2023. “We’re sort of on life support, but every once in a while, somebody brings out his paddles and gives us a bit of a shock, and we get up again. But then, unfortunately, results like Bihar happen, and we slump down again, and then somebody has to wheel us into the ICU,” he said, as reported by Mathrubhumi and Kashmir Reader. His metaphor captured both the cyclical nature of the alliance’s fortunes and the gravity of its current predicament.
The INDIA bloc, a coalition of several opposition parties, was created to mount a united front against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Though it managed to secure 234 seats in that contest, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ultimately retained power, albeit with a slimmer majority than many pollsters had predicted. However, the alliance’s troubles only deepened in the months that followed, suffering defeats in key Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi, and most recently, Bihar.
Abdullah argued that the Bihar Assembly election results laid bare the fragility of the opposition coalition. He was particularly critical of the bloc’s handling of internal disagreements, which he said had pushed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar “back into the arms of the NDA.” According to Hindustan Times and Onlykashmir.in, Abdullah pointed to the conscious exclusion of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) from seat-sharing talks in Bihar as a glaring example of poor coordination and strategic missteps. “I believe that we pushed Nitish Kumar back into the arms of the NDA,” he lamented.
In contrast, Abdullah praised the BJP’s relentless and disciplined approach to elections. “They have an unparalleled election machine. They also have an incredible work ethic in terms of how they deal with elections… They fight every election as if their lives depend on it. We sometimes fight elections as if we don’t care,” he observed, as reported by Kashmir Reader. He emphasized that the BJP, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, treats every state contest as vital, moving seamlessly from one campaign to the next. “No sooner has one election finished, they’ve already moved into the next territory… We will move into those states two months before the elections. We will be lucky if we sew up our electoral alliances before the last date of filing nominations,” Abdullah remarked, highlighting the opposition’s chronic lack of preparedness.
Abdullah didn’t shy away from addressing the structural limitations of the INDIA bloc. He stressed that while regional parties have significant influence in their respective states, only the Congress has the pan-India presence necessary to challenge the BJP at the national level. “The heavy lifting will have to be done by the Congress,” he said, a sentiment echoed across multiple outlets. This, he argued, was the only way for the opposition to mount a serious challenge in future elections.
Turning to the issue of the Muslim electorate, Abdullah noted that traditional recipients of Muslim votes had erred by engaging with the community only during election season. This neglect, he said, had opened the door for parties like the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) to gain ground by working year-round. “Traditional parties have neglected the community, which has benefited parties like AIMIM,” he observed, as summarized by Onlykashmir.in.
On the topic of election integrity, Abdullah distanced himself from widespread allegations that electronic voting machines (EVMs) are rigged. “I have never been a supporter of those who say that the machines are rigged,” he stated, according to Kashmir Reader. However, he drew a sharp distinction between rigging and other forms of manipulation. “Elections can be manipulated. And the easiest way to manipulate an election is to do it through the voter list or through the way in which you structure constituencies,” he explained, citing the recent delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir as an example. Abdullah argued that such exercises, when designed to benefit a particular party and its ally, amount to electoral manipulation. He called for transparency and fairness in voter list revisions and joked that his stance on EVMs put him at odds with his father, Farooq Abdullah, who “believes everything he gets on WhatsApp.”
Responding to Abdullah’s remarks, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi acknowledged his forthrightness and echoed the call for introspection and unity. “Omar Abdullah has always been very straightforward in his politics. He is clear about what he thinks, and he expresses it openly. As for the INDIA alliance, even before the Bihar elections, Uddhav Thackeray had said that a meeting was necessary, but after the Lok Sabha elections, no major meeting of the full alliance has taken place,” she told PTI. Chaturvedi urged all parties, particularly Congress, to “rethink, rework, re-energize, regroup, and figure out how to come together again, just as we built momentum during the Lok Sabha elections, and carry that into the state elections.”
Abdullah also reflected on the broader political message sent by the 2024 general elections. “The country sent a message to the Central government, to Prime Minister Modi and others in 2024 that things are not as rosy as you made them out to be, and that we are not happy with some of the decisions that have been taken,” he said. He noted that, in response, the central government had adapted its approach, shifting from a singular BJP identity to a more inclusive NDA coalition model. “From calling it a BJP government, they called themselves an NDA government. These are small changes, but they matter,” Abdullah observed, as reported by Onlykashmir.in.
The INDIA bloc’s recent setbacks have not been total, however. While it lost ground in several states, the alliance led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won the Jharkhand Assembly election in November 2024, and the National Conference secured victory in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election in October 2024. Still, these successes have been overshadowed by the bloc’s inability to present a united, strategic front in the face of the BJP’s formidable campaign apparatus.
With state elections looming and public confidence wavering, the opposition faces a critical juncture. Abdullah’s blunt assessment and Chaturvedi’s call for renewal underscore the urgent need for the INDIA bloc to resolve its internal differences, forge a cohesive strategy, and present a credible alternative to voters. Whether the alliance can rise from its current “life support” status remains to be seen, but the stakes—for both the opposition and Indian democracy—could hardly be higher.
