Parties engage in clever politicking as Election 2014 winds down

BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi’s closest confidante Amit Shah says the party will get more than 300 seats on its own. Of course, he has a reputation for meaning business, particularly that contained in the unspoken subtext. Which naturally leads to the question someone asked him at a press conference: Why did Modi say in his television interview to Times Now that the BJP is open to an alliance with any party, including the ones that it has been exchanging vituperative comments with as part of the campaign, if the party is so confident of getting a clear majority, that is, more than 272 seats, on its own? Shah has a noble explanation ready: That is because the BJP does not believe in political untouchability.

The BJP is not the only party capable of saying two different things on the same subject. The Trinamool Congress has been using the sharpest language to rebuke Narendra Modi. Party spokesperson Derek O’Brien has made it categorically clear that the TMC will have no truck with Modi. This might sound like a resounding slap on the face of a BJP playing ardent admirer but is not.

Because it does not rule out business with the BJP per se, only Modi has been forsworn. This becomes clear when you hear Mayawati spurn the BJP. She minces no words in making it clear that she will have nothing to do with either Modi or the BJP. Jayalalithaa has been maintaining an enigmatic silence. In Seemandhra, Jagan Reddy has been playing non-aligned the way Cuba used to in the Non Aligned Movement. TRS in Telangana has now openly declared support for the Congress.

The Congress has been playing coy when it comes to attacking any party other than the BJP and Narendra Modi. Local leaders would have targeted immediate rivals, but their national campaigners stayed doggedly focused on the Congress’ national level rivals. This makes it easier, after the election results on May 16, for the Congress to present itself as the default option for regional parties interested in avoiding instability at the Centre. This is how things stand as the elections wind down.