As UNPA comes crumbling down, BJP collects pieces
Sensing an opportunity in the convulsions in the UNPA following the SP’s flirtation with the Congress-led UPA, the BJP brass lost no time in contacting the leaders of the two regional players.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: The process of political realignment triggered at the national level by the Samajwadi Party���s decision to embrace the Congress looks set to be carried further with the BJP opening channels of communication with two other constituents of the UNPA ��� the INLD and the AGP.
Sensing an opportunity in the convulsions in the UNPA following the SP���s flirtation with the Congress-led UPA, the BJP brass lost no time in contacting the leaders of the two regional players, both of whom have thrived on the basis of anti-Congressism and have had alliances with the saffron outfit in the past.
While the BJP leadership has been eyeing the regional players for quite some time, formal talks could commence only after the SP went public with its decision to back the Manmohan Singh government on the Indo-US nuclear deal ��� a relationship that now looks set to be converted into a full-fledged pre-poll electoral and political tie-up in an effort to keep the ���communal forces��� and the BSP at bay in the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP���s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, has been holding negotiations with AGP chief Brindaban Goswami to secure a formal electoral alliance in the north-eastern state of Assam. BJP president Rajnath Singh, it���s learnt, also has had two rounds of discussions with Mr Goswami.
And the task of courting the INLD has reportedly been entrusted to former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, who���s also the convenor of the party���s central election management committee. Talks between the two sides are said to be at an advanced stage.
Wiser from the mistake it committed on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls held in 2004, when quite a few of its alliance partners deserted the NDA, the BJP leadership is keen to widen the coalition���s base by bringing in more partners on board. There is also a realisation that the electoral battle at the national level is increasingly becoming an aggregate of state-level elections. Hence, the desire to win over friends in states where the party does not have any significant presence.
The BJP had formed an alliance with the INLD on the eve of the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, but ties between the two sides ran into rough weather in the run-up to the 2004 general election and they subsequently parted ways.
The BJP-INLD alliance swept the 1999 Lok Sabha polls from Haryana, with the two parties bagging five seats each. In the assembly elections held a year later, the alliance emerged triumphant in 53 of the 90 seats, but the BJP, which could win six seats only, did not join the government.
The two parties parted ways before the 2004 general election. While the INLD drew a blank, the BJP could win only one seat (Sonepat).
In Assam, the BJP and the AGP contested separately in the 2004 general election, bagging two seats each. While the BJP romped home in Mangaldoi and Nowgong, the AGP rounded off Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur. Despite the fact that the two parties had an impressive vote-share (22.94 % and 23.53 %), there is a realisation that a split in the anti-Congress votes eventually helped the Congress, which emerged triumphant in 9 of the 14 seats from the state.
Sensing an opportunity in the convulsions in the UNPA following the SP���s flirtation with the Congress-led UPA, the BJP brass lost no time in contacting the leaders of the two regional players, both of whom have thrived on the basis of anti-Congressism and have had alliances with the saffron outfit in the past.
While the BJP leadership has been eyeing the regional players for quite some time, formal talks could commence only after the SP went public with its decision to back the Manmohan Singh government on the Indo-US nuclear deal ��� a relationship that now looks set to be converted into a full-fledged pre-poll electoral and political tie-up in an effort to keep the ���communal forces��� and the BSP at bay in the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP���s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, has been holding negotiations with AGP chief Brindaban Goswami to secure a formal electoral alliance in the north-eastern state of Assam. BJP president Rajnath Singh, it���s learnt, also has had two rounds of discussions with Mr Goswami.
And the task of courting the INLD has reportedly been entrusted to former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, who���s also the convenor of the party���s central election management committee. Talks between the two sides are said to be at an advanced stage.
Wiser from the mistake it committed on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls held in 2004, when quite a few of its alliance partners deserted the NDA, the BJP leadership is keen to widen the coalition���s base by bringing in more partners on board. There is also a realisation that the electoral battle at the national level is increasingly becoming an aggregate of state-level elections. Hence, the desire to win over friends in states where the party does not have any significant presence.
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The BJP had formed an alliance with the INLD on the eve of the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, but ties between the two sides ran into rough weather in the run-up to the 2004 general election and they subsequently parted ways.
The BJP-INLD alliance swept the 1999 Lok Sabha polls from Haryana, with the two parties bagging five seats each. In the assembly elections held a year later, the alliance emerged triumphant in 53 of the 90 seats, but the BJP, which could win six seats only, did not join the government.
The two parties parted ways before the 2004 general election. While the INLD drew a blank, the BJP could win only one seat (Sonepat).
In Assam, the BJP and the AGP contested separately in the 2004 general election, bagging two seats each. While the BJP romped home in Mangaldoi and Nowgong, the AGP rounded off Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur. Despite the fact that the two parties had an impressive vote-share (22.94 % and 23.53 %), there is a realisation that a split in the anti-Congress votes eventually helped the Congress, which emerged triumphant in 9 of the 14 seats from the state.
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