The final assault on Constitution

Next is Operation Lotus, another patented exercise of the BJP: encourage defections and give tickets to the defectors. I am told that the BJP will eventually nominate a little over 400 candidates. Up to 50 candidates will be defectors

- P Chidambaram

THE WARNING SIGNS were clear. The Opposition parties were able to sense what was coming, but pettifogging advisers seem to have held back their leaders. The battle-ready troops were not sent promptly to the battlefield, except in Tamil Nadu. In West Bengal, the INDIA formation was still-born; in Bihar, Mr Nitish Kumar's patented somersault attempted to derail the preparations but failed; in Maharashtra, the allies are debating the sharing of seats while the BJP is busy poaching leaders in the Opposition camps; in Uttar Pradesh, the SP and Congress are united but do not seem to have joined the battle yet; and in Delhi and Jharkhand, while the armies are ready, the generals are behind bars. It is only in Tamil Nadu, the battle between INDIA and the opposing parties has really begun reminding one of the adage 'well begun is half done'

That accounts for 7 out of 29 states. In the other major battlefields such as Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it is a straight fight between the Congress and BJP. By contrast, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh seem like stages for a pre-scripted play, not a genuine warfront.

The arsenal