Will 2026 be the year India's opposition finally gets its act together?

How might Narendra Modi, on the one hand, and ordinary Indian citizens, on the other, remember 2025? The answer: somewhat differently.

Over the past year, the Indian Prime Minister has seen a revival in his political fortunes, even though the country has faced strong headwinds. Whether there is still a disconnect between the country’s fortunes and those of its leadership in 12 months’ time will partly depend on how quickly, if at all, the opposition parties get their act together in 2026.

It was a different story just 18 months ago, when those same opposition parties came together in a general election to deny Mr Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party an absolute majority in the lower house of Parliament.

The BJP eventually cobbled together a coalition government, and the Prime Minister secured a third consecutive term. But unlike previous terms, he was now beholden to a handful of much smaller parties to stay in power. For a politician who never had to rely on coalitions to run a government, including during his 13 years as chief minister of Gujarat state, this was uncharted territory.

The election result also confirmed what some analysts had predicted: after a decade in office, Mr Modi’s popularity was bound to diminish. Many Indians, including some in his own party, had begun to ask: “After Modi, who?”

Since the summer of 2024, however, national politics has made a U-turn – well, sort of. Mr Modi still runs a coalition government that could yet fall if two of the BJP’s most crucial partners quit. But the alliance is, if anything, on firmer ground than it was at the beginning of the year.

This surefootedness follows a string of unexpectedly strong electoral performances from the BJP, winning four out of the five state assembly elections held since the parliamentary vote. Its partners in two of these states are also its coalition partners in New Delhi – a fact that has cemented Mr Modi’s hold on power.

The Prime Minister’s approval ratings have been strong, too.

A case in point is t