The need for a caste census was underscored by most opposition leaders who recently joined a meeting on social justice convened by MK Stalin, the chief of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK. This is the second opposition meet held by the Tamil Nadu chief minister, who has emerged as the interlocutor pushing for opposition unity ahead of next year’s general election. The conference, a way forward for social justice programmes, is being seen as the next step in the ongoing attempts to build opposition unity ahead of the next general elections.
At the first national conference of the All India Federation for Social Justice, an initiative of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), members of opposition parties came together on a common platform to discuss ways to take their efforts forward. The event provided an opportunity to the opposition parties to rally together and also weighed on the potential of forming an anti-BJP alliance. This is important, given the diverse, and often hostile, political histories shared by members of the opposition camp – a factor that was an Achilles’ heel in previous attempts to bring together a front of opposition leaders before the 2019 general elections. It might be too early to believe that the attempt of the DMK will bear fruit and unite the entire opposition. But there is no doubt that this event provided rare opportunities to try to build the opposition unity.