This refers to the editorial, “The Great Gamble” (June 4). United Opposition has served a fresh blow to the BJP by inflicting a third consecutive defeat in a lok Sabha by-poll. Now it is crystal clear that the BJP cannot take the united Opposition lightly anymore and will have to come up with game-changing strategies in next few months to boost its chances in the 2019 General Election.
Of course, it will give huge confidence to the Opposition but they also need to remember that joining hands for a by-poll and the general elections, where seat sharing will be a challenging task, are two different ball games, especially when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati categorically said that she will only join hands with other opposition parties, given that there are a good number of seats to fight.
BJP should also try to bring more like-minded parties on board. BJP must take solace from the fact that all said and done, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains its biggest trump card but it needs to work on other areas like farmers’ distress, rising fuel price, job creation etc, to win people’s confidence once again.