Born out of a necessity to stop the BJP’s poll juggernaut in last year’s Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA alliance is an idea that proved difficult to sustain, given that most of the constituents are each other’s fierce rivals in various states.In recent weeks, it has come into question from several quarters, including senior Congress leader P Chidambaram who said at a book launch last month that he was not sure if the INDIA alliance was still intact. Then, on Tuesday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made it clear that it was no longer part of the Opposition bloc, with its senior MP Sanjay Singh saying that the alliance was limited to the Lok Sabha elections. The AAP also fired a salvo at the Congress, the primary force behind the group, accusing it of being in cahoots with the BJP and making it clear that it could not keep joining hands with a party that is its rival in most states where it wants to expand and which played a key role in ousting it from power in Delhi in February.Despite these problems and the fact that it has never functioned as a traditional alliance — with a clear political programme and leadership structure — the INDIA parties have come together from time to time on issues to challenge or pressure the BJP government at the Centre. The latest example is the joint letter that 16 of the parties in the alliance have sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about a special session of Parliament on Operation Sindoor. However, AAP’s decision and the fact that Sharad Pawar, one of the tallest Opposition leaders in the grouping, is opposed to a special session on national security matters show the significant challenges the alliance faces.How Pawar’s NCP (SP) responds, and whether this rare show of unity translates into something more concrete in next month’s Monsoon Session and beyond are among the big political questions of the day and the coming weeks.Also, another important question is whether the government will accept the demand for a special session of Parliament. As Liz Mathew reported on Tuesday, it does not appear keen on holding one. And, as of now, there have been no discussions in the administration about holding one this month, either on Operation Sindoor or the 50th anniversary of Emergency.Rahul Gandhi in HaryanaFor the Congress, perhaps no state illustrates the challenges on the road to revival more than Haryana. The party has not had an organisational structure at the ground level for more than a decade and, pegged back by factional feuds, lost the Assembly elections last year despite visible anti-incumbency against the BJP government on the ground. So deflated the party has been since that defeat that it has been unable to choose a leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).Amid all these challenges, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to travel to Chandigarh on Wednesday to discuss the state of the party with senior leaders and launch a campaign aimed at strengthening the grassroots cadre. This comes a couple of days after the Congress appointed 69 observers and eight additional observers who will work on creating a cadre base in the state.Story continues below this adThe message Gandhi sends to the state Congress leaders will be one of the important political stories of the day, and it remains to be seen if this process helps the party put an end to internecine strife and start putting in the building blocks of revival.PM Modi to address ministersPrime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers, which does not meet as frequently as the Cabinet. This will be the first such meeting since the Pahalgam terror attack and the conflict with Pakistan last month. At the meeting, the PM is likely to discuss details of Operation Sindoor and governance achievements that he expects the ministers to communicate to the public in the run-up to the first anniversary of this government.© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd