India, March 18 -- The Opposition's shocking losses in the Rajya Sabha polls in Odisha and Bihar, and its narrow victory in Haryana - if losing nine votes and winning by just one, after suffering both crossvoting and disqualification of votes, can be called a victory - hold some insights. One, the Opposition's slide in national politics is not just ideological or electoral, but also organisational. Since its relatively stellar performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Opposition has stumbled again and again - prominently in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Bihar - but refuses to learn lessons in setting its own house in order. The Congress was so confident of winning Haryana that it didn't bother resolving a battle between its senior leaders, ultimately costing it the state. The Maha Vikas Aghadi was so consumed in dividing up the spoils of imagined poll victories in Maharashtra that it couldn't even finalise a seat-sharing agreement. In Bihar, personal conflict between the two biggest leaders of the Opposition hamstrung its campaign, leading to another drubbing. This time too, longtime loyalists and young lawmakers broke ranks to undercut party candidates across states. Organisation and internal discipline might be unglamorous, but they're an essential ingredient to political success. Instead of reshuffling their internal mechanism after assembly election setbacks, the losses indicate that the Opposition has not regrouped in Haryana 17 months after its loss, and in Odisha, nearly two years after the BJP ousted the BJD from power. The Opposition will blame money and the entrapments of power, but its organisational chiefs must ask themselves how they can be caught unawares in state after state, even as the BJP pinches votes from under their noses. Unfortunately, when it comes to Rajya Sabha polls, crossvoting and horse-trading have been endemic for decades, which underlines the second inference. The complicated design and formula for the Upper House polls and the absence of an anti-defection law (in the context of elections to the Upper House) have enabled the ruling party of the day to strongarm lawmakers and push its candidates through. In indirect polls, such practices might make for thrilling political drama. But there is no escaping the fact that such practices hurt the credibility of parties and the election process. The Rajya Sabha was envisioned to give a voice to the states. It deserves a more dignified and transparent election process....