The colours and contours of national politics are changing. It now appears certain for most people that no party may get an absolute majority. Both the BJP and the Congress might fall short of the magic number. If the five phases of the polling are any indication, then the BJP is swimming against the tide. The regional parties, which want to seize the opportunity and play a key role at the national level, have suddenly gone on a hyper active mode.
TRS chief KCR has already begun state-hopping - meeting key leaders and striking up alliances. Chandrababu Naidu too is trying to drum up support to the Congress Party. KCR had announced after meeting Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan that the BJP may not win more than 180 seats and the Congress might not win more than 140 seats. But the Congress might come to power with the help of 21 regional parties. The argument is that both Indira Gandhi in 1971 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 had won a massive mandate. But both lost the elections the next time. So, Modi, who won massive mandate in 2014, too could meet the same fate. They feel the BJP may lose states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the all-important Hindi belt. It could salvage some prestige in the eastern India. If things don't work out for the BJP, it could be out of power.
So, the regional parties believe that they have a key role to play in a hung situation. There could be two fronts - a Federal Front led by KCR and non-BJP front mooted by Chandrababu. The role that the regional parties could play would be revealed on May 23. Regardless of either BJP wins or Congress wins, the key to power would be the regional parties.
TRS chief KCR has already begun state-hopping - meeting key leaders and striking up alliances. Chandrababu Naidu too is trying to drum up support to the Congress Party. KCR had announced after meeting Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan that the BJP may not win more than 180 seats and the Congress might not win more than 140 seats. But the Congress might come to power with the help of 21 regional parties. The argument is that both Indira Gandhi in 1971 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 had won a massive mandate. But both lost the elections the next time. So, Modi, who won massive mandate in 2014, too could meet the same fate. They feel the BJP may lose states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the all-important Hindi belt. It could salvage some prestige in the eastern India. If things don't work out for the BJP, it could be out of power.
So, the regional parties believe that they have a key role to play in a hung situation. There could be two fronts - a Federal Front led by KCR and non-BJP front mooted by Chandrababu. The role that the regional parties could play would be revealed on May 23. Regardless of either BJP wins or Congress wins, the key to power would be the regional parties.