NEW DELHI: With a less than a month to go for the first ballot of elections 2009 to be cast, the two big national players are floundering, hurting from wounds inflicted by mercenary allies and in-house conflagrations that have made the polls even more open than they were a couple of weeks ago.
When the Election Commission fired the starting gun, NDA's inability to emerge as front-runner had eroded its challenger status, but it is Congress that has now suffered a few telling blows, dimming its initial lustre when it appeared to be carrying its five years in office lightly. Now, it is also, like BJP, suddenly looking quite vulnerable.
Just as Congress was looking to build on the perceived lack of a wave against it -- helped by BJP stumbling in Delhi and Rajasthan -- it was tripped by an unlikely foe. RJD boss Lalu Prasad has been a steadfast ally and his equation with the Congress leadership is evident in the easy manner in which he and Sonia Gandhi exchange notes, sitting next to each other in Lok Sabha.
Lalu has stoutly defended not just Sonia, but Rahul as well, chastising the NDA ranks when they tittered at the young leader's "Kalavati" speech. But he has now left Congress's hopes in UP and Bihar in shreds just when Congress was holding him up as an exemplary ally in comparison to motormouths like SP's Amar Singh.
Developments have put an unfavourable spotlight on Congress's prospects in other states, several where it faces BJP. Congress is lagging in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. It is better placed in Punjab and Rajasthan, but could be in trouble in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The only silver spot is Tamil Nadu where alliances with DMK and PMK may hold.
This is a precarious situation for India's GOP, particularly if the grim urban mood sours further due to job losses. The only relief lies in BJP's failure to make an impact in cities where it should have had an advantage, given the economic climate and concern over terrorism. BJP's post-26/11 slip in Delhi has delivered a blow to its security plank which could have dominated political discourse.
Congress and BJP are both trying to settle scores with allies. Making the best of a bad situation, Congress is likely to contest 20 seats in Bihar in the hope of taking the first step to rebuilding its base though it is aware that post-poll arithmetic are cloudy. BJP plans to contest all Orissa seats, hoping to ensure it is relevant to government formation in the state.
BJP's neglect of ties with allies has ensured that unlike in 2004, there is no common agenda for governance. The saffron party has been sucked into a vortex of personal ambitions and a weak leadership. Both BJP and RSS seniors have been unable to settle the Rajnath Singh-Arun Jaitley row over appointment of controversial businessman Sudhanshu Mittal as election in-charge of northeast.
Though BJP is well placed in some electorally key states, the open season in the party has made a mockery of its claims of providing a "strong leader and decisive government". The party needs to turn attention away from its innards. But if deliberations of its election committee are anything to go by, this doesn't seem very likely.
Source: TOI
When the Election Commission fired the starting gun, NDA's inability to emerge as front-runner had eroded its challenger status, but it is Congress that has now suffered a few telling blows, dimming its initial lustre when it appeared to be carrying its five years in office lightly. Now, it is also, like BJP, suddenly looking quite vulnerable.
Just as Congress was looking to build on the perceived lack of a wave against it -- helped by BJP stumbling in Delhi and Rajasthan -- it was tripped by an unlikely foe. RJD boss Lalu Prasad has been a steadfast ally and his equation with the Congress leadership is evident in the easy manner in which he and Sonia Gandhi exchange notes, sitting next to each other in Lok Sabha.
Lalu has stoutly defended not just Sonia, but Rahul as well, chastising the NDA ranks when they tittered at the young leader's "Kalavati" speech. But he has now left Congress's hopes in UP and Bihar in shreds just when Congress was holding him up as an exemplary ally in comparison to motormouths like SP's Amar Singh.
Developments have put an unfavourable spotlight on Congress's prospects in other states, several where it faces BJP. Congress is lagging in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. It is better placed in Punjab and Rajasthan, but could be in trouble in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The only silver spot is Tamil Nadu where alliances with DMK and PMK may hold.
This is a precarious situation for India's GOP, particularly if the grim urban mood sours further due to job losses. The only relief lies in BJP's failure to make an impact in cities where it should have had an advantage, given the economic climate and concern over terrorism. BJP's post-26/11 slip in Delhi has delivered a blow to its security plank which could have dominated political discourse.
Congress and BJP are both trying to settle scores with allies. Making the best of a bad situation, Congress is likely to contest 20 seats in Bihar in the hope of taking the first step to rebuilding its base though it is aware that post-poll arithmetic are cloudy. BJP plans to contest all Orissa seats, hoping to ensure it is relevant to government formation in the state.
BJP's neglect of ties with allies has ensured that unlike in 2004, there is no common agenda for governance. The saffron party has been sucked into a vortex of personal ambitions and a weak leadership. Both BJP and RSS seniors have been unable to settle the Rajnath Singh-Arun Jaitley row over appointment of controversial businessman Sudhanshu Mittal as election in-charge of northeast.
Though BJP is well placed in some electorally key states, the open season in the party has made a mockery of its claims of providing a "strong leader and decisive government". The party needs to turn attention away from its innards. But if deliberations of its election committee are anything to go by, this doesn't seem very likely.
Source: TOI
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