BJP-led NDA gains traction; Congress lags
There was a time only in the recent past when the Congress gloated over its ability to stitch together and retain a coalition that goes by the name of the United Progressive Alliance. It would take pot-shots at the Bharatiya Janata Party for the drying up into a trickle of the National Democratic Alliance which the BJP leads. But now the tables are turned. In the run-up to the lok Sabha election, the BJP has stolen a march over the Congress in attracting fresh allies, whether it is Mr Ram Vilas Paswan's lok Janshakti Party in Bihar or the PMK, the DMDK, the MDMK and two other smaller outfits in Tamil Nadu. There are others which are being talked of as potential allies who could come on board before or after the election. Individuals such as superstar Chiranjeevi's brother and founder of Jana Sena, Mr Pawan Kalyan, has met with and pledged support to the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Mr Narendra Modi. And, so has Mr Raj Thackeray, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo. There are a number of smaller outfits that could fall in the NDA fold in the weeks to come. What has also come as an additional shot in the arm for the BJP-led coalition is the Jammu & Kashmir-based People's Democratic Party's praise for the NDA. PDP chief Mufti Mohammed Sayeed recently said that the NDA had under Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's leadership understood the Kashmir issue well and taken concrete steps to resolve the matter. He added that the Congress-led UPA had failed to meet the aspirations of the State. Party's senior leader Mehbooba Mufti has seconded the opinion. There is, therefore, a possibility that the PDP could in some way support the BJP-led NDA if the latter comes to power at the Centre. As things stand, the NDA has already grown in numerical strength with the addition of new partners, and the arrival of more parties will enhance its position. The BJP has more than made up for the loss of the Janata Dal (United) after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walked out of the alliance last year.
On the other hand, the Congress is struggling to retain what it has, and has failed so far to win over new partners. This is not surprising, given that the party is seen as a sinking ship which no one wants to board. In the months gone by, the UPA has lost two major allies — the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Its relation with two of its most important partners, the National Conference of Jammu & Kashmir and the Nationalist Congress Party of Mr Sharad Pawar remains tenuous. The alliances will hold, however, for the moment, and more so if the PDP gets closer to the BJP and the BJP-Shiv Sena combine maintains its momentum in Maharashtra. But this is little consolation to the Congress which could be left with minimum leverage after the poll to craft an expanded UPA. Already, in Bihar, ally lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal is calling the shots.
leave alone strike new partnerships, the Congress is unable to contain the flight of top leaders from the party. In Madhya Pradesh, it faced an embarrassment after a leader who was announced as its candidate from a constituency of his choice switched over to the BJP. In Uttarakhand, a heavyweight Congress leader of many decades has crossed over to the rival camp. Things are further falling apart for the Congress with senior leaders being coaxed against their wishes to contest what they see as a losing poll. All in all, the BJP has an edge. Will this convert into victory, we will know on May 16.