UPA-3 to be visible after UP Assembly elections

The UPA-3 could be visible after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, to be held in early next year, irrespective of the outcome of the state Assembly polls, predicted non-NDA leaders.

“Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal should be watched as they will be the key players to unite the non-BJP parties,” a former chief minister said.

While NCP chief Sharad Pawar is said to have told his party colleagues that the Congress-NCP combine will fight the next Lok Sabha elections together, in West Bengal polls the Congress does not want to antagonise the Trinamul Congress (TMC) but will have tactical understanding with the Left. “There will be no formal alliance with either the TMC or the CP(IM) but the party will work closely with the Left at the grass-root level,” said a Congress strategist.

The message is loud and clear that the AICC wants to keep the TMC and the Left in good humour keeping in mind the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“If the arch rivals —Samajwadi Party and the BSP — can support the Manmohan Singh government for nearly 10 years unconditionally, why can’t the TMC and the Left ” they asked.

The Congress came to power in 2004 due to tactical alliance with the RJD (Bihar), the NCP (Maharashtra), the DMK and other Dravadian parties barring the AIADMK (Tamil Nadu), the TRS (Andhra Pradesh) and the Left’s outside support. And in 2009, the Mamata Banerjee-led party became the constituent of the UPA. Therefore, regional players in about half-a-dozen key states could play a decisive role.

The Modi government, which will complete two years in May, will have only one year left to deliver. This is because the fourth year will be seen as an election year while the fifth year will have no meaning as the actual election will be held in three to four months, that is April-May 2019.

The anti-BJP front was formed within three months after the Congress lost Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarrh and Rajasthabn Assembly elections held in 2003.

Now,the BJP’s oldest allies—the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal —are uncomfortable with the saffron parties due to number of factors while the new allies are unreliable.Besides, the BJP is fighting West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry elections not form a government but it get space in these states and in Assam it is expecting get mileage of the anti incumbency factor. But Uttar Pradesh polls could set the tone of the next general election.