An Alliance Of Necessity

The numbers suggest that the Modi-led NDA is practically unbeatable in a head-to-head poll fight. Will Opposition parties team up to take them on?

- Kunal Pradhan

As the leaders of India’s top political parties set the wheels of their 2019 ambitions in motion—either through rallies in election-bound Uttar Pradesh and Punjab or through photo-ops with Dalits in Gujarat—the key question is this: will the next Lok Sabha elections be fought on a national versus national platform or a national versus regional plank? The answer is crucial in determining the kind of Opposition that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will face two-and-a half years from now, and whether he will be able to muster the numbers required for a second term.