Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 03:21 PM IST
New NDA alignments evident, faultlines in Opposition get exposed
Not only did the Opposition lose two possible allies in the TRS and the BJD, its own festering problems got exposed once again.
New Delhi: Thursday’s election for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman post not only exposed the faultlines in the Opposition camp, but also revealed a new alignment of forces on the NDA side as well. The BJD, which had kept an equal distance from both the Congress and the BJP, voted in favour of the JD(U) candidate, taking a definitive stand ahead of the 2019 polls, as did the Telengana Rashtra Samiti. Ironically, TRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao was one of the first to propose a federal front to take on the narendra Modi government, along with Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Telangana CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at least twice in the last couple of months, and some political watchers believe he has shown interest in a post-poll tieup with the BJP in 2019.
The new alignment within the NDA shows that in case of need parties like the TRS, BJD and AIADMK would be willing to prop up a BJP government in case of a hung Parliament.
The BJD’s decision to vote with the NDA candidate shows that Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, who plays his cards close to his chest, considers the Congress as a bigger threat in his state than the BJP. A senior BJD leader told this newspaper that after its initial rise, the BJP’s growth in Odisha has been contained and it is the Congress which is the chief challenger to his party.
Not only did the Opposition lose two possible allies in the TRS and the BJD, its own festering problems got exposed once again. The Aam Aadmi Party, which abstained from voting, claimed that it had not been approached by the Congress Party at all seeking support for its candidate, and that only a call from Congress president Rahul Gandhi to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal would have made them vote for the Congress. It might be recalled that the two parties are arch-rivals in the national capital.
Sources also said that after initial enthusiasm, there were very few parties in the Opposition camp who were ready to contest except the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, and it fell upon him to try and reach out to Naveen Patnaik. He said no when his request for support was turned down.
