Rahul Gandhi’s decision to choose Wayanad in Kerala, in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, to contest, could well be a defining moment in this election. Though Wayanad was under consideration for at least two weeks, the decision was nonetheless ( anyway ; however) surprising as his principal opponent would be, not his national-level ideological rival the BJP, but a party of the Left, which is in the forefront of the fight for a secular alternative to the ruling formation. This paradox ( a person or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities) could turn out to be a central challenge in the emergence of a national coalition (a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government) against the BJP because many parties that are opposed to the BJP are also opposed to one another.

Mr. Gandhi’s gambit (plan ; tactic) amplifies that contradiction and marks a rupture (break ; fracture) between the Congress and the Left Front — fierce (having or displaying an intense or ferocious aggressiveness) opponents in Kerala, but natural partners at the Centre. The national leadership of the Congress had kept an arm’s length from the highly competitive politics in Kerala, where its State unit and the Left are face to face. The exigencies (an urgent need or demand) of national politics shape their cooperation elsewhere. Only recently, on Mr. Gandhi’s watch, the Congress was in seat-sharing talks with the Left in West Bengal. Though the Congress has said Mr. Gandhi’s candidature is not against the Left, the latter (occurring or situated nearer to the end of something than to the beginning) has been brutal in its reaction.

The Congress claimed the foray (a sudden attack or incursion into enemy territory, especially to obtain something; a raid) signalled Mr. Gandhi’s commitment to all regions. But the choice of Kerala, rather than Karnataka, where the Congress is locked in a direct battle with the BJP, is difficult to explain. If the Left frontally attacked the Congress, the BJP was disparaging (expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory). Amit Shah remarked Mr. Gandhi feared he would be held accountable by Amethi’s voters; and Narendra Modi, in a statement with communal overtones, said Mr. Gandhi chose the seat because Hindus were in a minority there.

By fielding Mr. Gandhi from Wayanad, the Congress has taken a view that considerations of alliances are now secondary to its push to maximise its individual tally. The Congress has strong alliances in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Bihar but a shaky one in Karnataka. Its U.P. ambitions were rejected by the SP-BSP axis; and differences persist within the party on aligning with the AAP in Delhi. After the 2004 elections, the Congress became the fulcrum (a thing that plays a central or essential role in an activity, event, or situation) of a national coalition, which was bound by a broad commitment to a pluralist India, as opposed to Hindutva’s exclusivist and majoritarian politics.

The Left had a significant role in its formation but ended the experiment in 2008 over differences with the Congress on the nuclear deal. State-level compulsions have led regional parties to cross from the BJP to the Congress and vice versa, but the primary fault-line is political mobilisation (the action of making something movable or capable of movement) along religious lines. Without clarity of concept on addressing this fault-line, there can be no effective cooperation among non-BJP parties. Though it is unfair to put the entire onus (something that is one’s duty or responsibility) of aggregating (collect (related items of content) so as to display or link to them) non-BJP politics on Mr. Gandhi, his candidacy in Wayanad can do nothing for the larger secular cause.