The gathbandhan, the term in common parlance for the Uttar Pradesh alliance of Samajwadi Party (SP) – Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) – Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), has left the big two of Indian politics rattled in India's most populous state.
Over the past three days, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have betrayed their nervousness that a repeat of 1996 could be in the offing.
The results of UP’s 80-seats could determine if the BJP makes a comeback, or struggles to get requisite number of allies, as happened in 1996, and fails to prove its majority.
In 1996, regional parties got together to form the United Front government with outside support from the Congress. The Congress is trying to reach out to the BSP, with which it has had a cold war since the December Assembly polls. The BJP has taken to warning the electorate about the Congress' record in withdrawing support to coalition governments.
Opposition leaders have already started talking of a coalition government comprising regional parties, and unlike 1996, the Congress being part of the government led by a non-Congress prime minister.
The Congress has even convened a meeting of opposition parties on May 21 in New Delhi, that is two days after the last phase of polling but 48-hours before the counting of votes.
The Congress leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra threw in the towel earlier this week. Priyanka on Wednesday and Rahul a day later said the Congress was helping gathbandhan candidates against the BJP wherever their own candidates were not in the contest.
The comments stem not only from the Congress party’s need for BSP’s support in Amethi and Rae Bareli, which go to polls on Monday. It is much to do with an eye on a post-poll scenario where the BJP falls way short of a majority. There has been a cold war between Mayawati and Congress since the December Assembly polls, and the Congress now feels it needs to keep her in good humour.
On Saturday, it was the turn of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let slip the desperation in his party in UP. In a speech in Pratapgarh, Modi suggested SP and Congress were conspiring against BSP chief Mayawati.
Modi alluded to Priyanka attending an SP meeting in Rae Bareli, and sharing stage with SP leadership, while party general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia has ensured defection of BSP’s candidate from his Guna seat into the Congress party, which had led Mayawati to threaten to withdraw her support to the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh.
“The SP is going soft on the Congress, but its alliance partner BSP chief Mayawati is attacking the Congress,” Modi said in an attempt to drive a wedge between the SP and BSP. He said the Congress is a ‘vote katwa’, or fringe, party in UP.
Modi recalled that the Congress withdrew support from governments at the Centre in the past leading to political instability, and only the BJP can give a stable government.
The Congress withdrew support to the minority Charan Singh government in 1979, Chandra Shekhar government in 1991 and the United Front government in 1998.
However, the PM’s comments also suggested that the BJP could be mulling the possibility of a repeat of 1996 when it emerged the single largest party under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The President invited Vajpayee to form the government, which he did but it fell 13-days later because several regional parties refused to support the BJP.
It is in this context that the Congress outreach to BSP is important as is that of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to YSR Congress and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
The BJP is also in touch with the YSR Congress and TRS. A day after the polling ended for phase four on April 29, BJP Odisha leader Dharmendra Pradhan called on Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik.
Over the past three days, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have betrayed their nervousness that a repeat of 1996 could be in the offing.
The results of UP’s 80-seats could determine if the BJP makes a comeback, or struggles to get requisite number of allies, as happened in 1996, and fails to prove its majority.
In 1996, regional parties got together to form the United Front government with outside support from the Congress. The Congress is trying to reach out to the BSP, with which it has had a cold war since the December Assembly polls. The BJP has taken to warning the electorate about the Congress' record in withdrawing support to coalition governments.
Opposition leaders have already started talking of a coalition government comprising regional parties, and unlike 1996, the Congress being part of the government led by a non-Congress prime minister.
The Congress has even convened a meeting of opposition parties on May 21 in New Delhi, that is two days after the last phase of polling but 48-hours before the counting of votes.
The Congress leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra threw in the towel earlier this week. Priyanka on Wednesday and Rahul a day later said the Congress was helping gathbandhan candidates against the BJP wherever their own candidates were not in the contest.
The comments stem not only from the Congress party’s need for BSP’s support in Amethi and Rae Bareli, which go to polls on Monday. It is much to do with an eye on a post-poll scenario where the BJP falls way short of a majority. There has been a cold war between Mayawati and Congress since the December Assembly polls, and the Congress now feels it needs to keep her in good humour.
On Saturday, it was the turn of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let slip the desperation in his party in UP. In a speech in Pratapgarh, Modi suggested SP and Congress were conspiring against BSP chief Mayawati.
Modi alluded to Priyanka attending an SP meeting in Rae Bareli, and sharing stage with SP leadership, while party general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia has ensured defection of BSP’s candidate from his Guna seat into the Congress party, which had led Mayawati to threaten to withdraw her support to the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh.
“The SP is going soft on the Congress, but its alliance partner BSP chief Mayawati is attacking the Congress,” Modi said in an attempt to drive a wedge between the SP and BSP. He said the Congress is a ‘vote katwa’, or fringe, party in UP.
Modi recalled that the Congress withdrew support from governments at the Centre in the past leading to political instability, and only the BJP can give a stable government.
The Congress withdrew support to the minority Charan Singh government in 1979, Chandra Shekhar government in 1991 and the United Front government in 1998.
However, the PM’s comments also suggested that the BJP could be mulling the possibility of a repeat of 1996 when it emerged the single largest party under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The President invited Vajpayee to form the government, which he did but it fell 13-days later because several regional parties refused to support the BJP.
It is in this context that the Congress outreach to BSP is important as is that of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to YSR Congress and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
The BJP is also in touch with the YSR Congress and TRS. A day after the polling ended for phase four on April 29, BJP Odisha leader Dharmendra Pradhan called on Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik.
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