Opposition Missed Another Chance to Unite

Rahul Gandhi profusely thanked the opposition parties for standing by him and condemning his disqualification from Lok Sabha by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Rahul, he scared Modi when he announced that he would expose Modi and his links with Adani in his next speech in Parliament. He said the disqualification would not deter him and he would continue to ask the moot question as to who invested Rs 20,000 crore in the shell companies of Adani.

All this for a day created an atmosphere as if all non-BJP parties would put their differences on back burner and join hands to corner BJP unitedly and thus make the going in next elections tough for the saffron party. But it seems the 'Josh' that was shown in criticising Modi and the BJP has ended with equal speed.

If the speech of BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao in Maharashtra is any indication, there is no chance of both BRs and Congress coming closer at any cost. KCR asked the people to explain if they found any difference in governance between the 54 years of Congress rule and the present BJP rule in the country. He himself answered it, saying 'No' and said things had gone from bad to worse. He utilised the opportunity to lash out at BJP as well, saying they were "misusing" the probe agencies. He observed that all successive governments at the Center did not have any vision. His tone and tenor indicated that BRS would not join hands with Congress. The Congress party on its part organised Sankalp Yatra across the country on its own. Though Rahul Gandhi during the press conference claimed that the Congress would fight against the BJP along with other parties, the party went ahead and organised the Sankalp Yatra on its own, which indicates that bonhomie between anti-BJP parties is still a far cry. Some leaders claim that since most of the anti-BJP parties are regional parties, they don't want to lose their hold over respective states and hence don't want to come under one umbrella. They would contest on their own in their respective states, get a maximum number of seats in Lok Sabha and then think of alliance.

Not a bad idea, provided at least at that point of time they may agree to join hands and adopt the policy of give and take. But then some parties like BRS which have national ambition would contest in other states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It remains to be seen if parties like Samajwadi Party agree to share seats its seats with BRS or will offer those where SP would certain to lose. MIM, the ally of BRS, will also be contesting in UP and Owaisi announced that they would try their luck in Rajasthan. What kind of combinations would emerge remains to be seen. Whatever it may be, one thing is certain, the voter will be witnessing high drama in the months to come. Which side he will swing most remains to be seen.