India, much to the chagrin of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is yet to be free - mukt - of an Opposition. There were signs of a resurgence in Opposition ranks at the ceremony to appoint H.D. Kumaraswamy the chief minister of Karnataka. The bonhomie that was evident among the leaders of the regional parties has, however, been necessitated by electoral arithmetic. In Karnataka, the Congress and Mr Kumaraswamy's party, the Janata Dal (Secular), had been compelled to come together to keep the BJP out of power. The template of such an unusual union had been set earlier. In the by-elections to Phulpur and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party - bitter rivals under ordinary circumstances - joined hands to decimate the BJP at the hustings. This triumph in a state where the BJP is in power had led to an important reassessment of the political situation on the part of the Opposition. Even in 2014, when the BJP swept the general elections, its vote share had only been a little over 30 per cent. This makes it clear that Opposition parties are in a position to stop the BJP juggernaut if they were to take on, not one another but, the saffron party unitedly. Regional parties, energized by the outcome in Karnataka, are working on forging a bigger confederation as the parliamentary polls draw near.

But such alliances have proven to be rather brittle in the past. Smaller parties have formed governments at the Centre, but the Congress has pulled the plug on them on several occasions. But this is New India, and the Congress is no longer the force it used to be. Its willingness to shed its arrogance was manifest in the declaration that the Congress would explore ways to broaden the coalition against its principal opponent, the BJP. But even an uncharacteristically mellow Congress would not be enough to assure the longevity of such a league. The aspirations of regional leaders - Mamata Banerjee is among them - could well prove to be the undoing of the alliance. Of course, there is nothing wrong with regional leaders aspiring to lead the nation. The BJP, which stands to benefit from these rivalries, would certainly welcome such ambitions. Ultimately, it would be the people of India who would decide the fate of the confederacy. However, an energized Opposition taking the battle to the BJP is desirable. One party ruling one nation is inimical to the spirit of democracy.