Ultimately, what was predicted quite earlier has started happening in the I.N.D.I Alliance. A serious rift has surfaced in the alliance even before it could take off. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has started it by announcing that she will contest the Lok Sabha elections alone on all the seats. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann also declared that AAP would contest all 13 seats of the border state at its own.
If sources are to be believed, the opposition bloc may break in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar also. As per latest developments in Bihar, Nitish Kumar may change sides again, the sources said. There is every possibility of him joining NDA again. BJP has approved Nitish Kumar’s return to NDA, they added. In such a situation, Bihar assembly may be dissolved. According to sources, BJP has called its MLAs to Patna. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday targeted Lalu family on the issue of nepotism, which created an uproar in the politics of Bihar. The tension has started increasing between Lalu’s party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal United (JDU). The differences in I.N.D.I.A. alliance was also visible in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet meeting held on January 25.
The meeting ended soon and later the press conference was also cancelled.
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah’s statement last week regarding the new alliance may bear fruit in the coming days. After the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, it is now more likely that some parties in the opposition alliance will distance themselves from the Congress. In Maharashtra, Congress has agreed to accept the conditions that Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena has laid down. Perhaps the alliance will remain in Maharashtra, but there are apprehensions regarding the remaining states. If sources are to be believed, anew alliance may be formed in which some small parties such as TMC of Mamata Banerjee, BRS of K Chandrashekar Rao, SP led by Akhilesh Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party may be included. BRS leader Chandrashekar Rao had already tried to form a third front before the assembly elections last year for which SP and AAP were the constituents.
Rao had also met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leaderTejashwi Yadav. But by then, after the victory of Karnataka, Congress took theinitiative and formed the INDI Alliance. After KCR’s defeat in Telangana, the issueof Third Front was relegated to the backburner.
But the Congress’ defeat in three majorHindi belt states also weakened the grand old party, due to which the parties in INDI alliancestarted keeping distance from the bloc. Among the parties with which the nationalalliance committee of the Congress has held talks so far, only outfits inMaharashtra seem to have reached an agreement. The atmospherecreated in the country after the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya has worriedthe constituent parties in the alliance. TMC leader Mamata Banerjee distancedherself from the bloc thereby leading to possibility of panic reaction by the otherconstituents. JDU, SP and AamAadmi Party will not go with Congress on the pretext of seat sharing. There are apprehensions about JDU in Bihar. There is also doubtover the survival of the Grand Alliance in Bihar. According to sources, KC Tyagi, who is Nitish Kumar’strusted lieutenant, is said to be in touch with BJP these days in what is beingseen as an exercise possibly paving the way for JDU’s return to NDA. KC Tyagi’sson Ambrish Tyagi had joined BJP during Uttar Pradesh elections.
Ambareeshhas been a part of the campaign and election strategy team of former USPresident Donald Trump. It is understood that the award of Bharat Ratna to Biharstalwart late Karpoori Thakur is certain to have an impact on the politics of thestate.
The Samajwadi Partyhas already finalised seat sharing with the Indian National Lok Dal withoutcaring about the Congress. There are indications that the SP will fight alonein Uttar Pradesh. It may also gowith a new third front sans
Congress.
The Congress has also started searchingfor candidates on all the Lok Sabha seats in the country. Same situation isemerging in Bihar also. Nitish is not happy with the Congress. HUM leader JitanRam Manjhi has also said that there will be “khela” Bihar as well.
