The BJP cannot count on a walkover. Powerful regional players will have pivotal roles in determining the course of the election and demand a share of the spoils
History has a strange habit of repeating itself in Indian elections. Though no one can predict with accuracy when it will do so. In 1996, the Congress-led government of P.V. Narasimha Rao was looking for a second term. But Rao made a fatal mistake by aligning in Tamil Nadu with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK), headed by the late J. Jayalalithaa, despite stiff opposition from the state Congress unit which wanted a tie-up with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK). It led to a split in the party, with G.K. Moopanar, the state Congress leader, forming a new party and aligning with the M. Karunanidhi-led DMK and the Communist Party of India. The newly-formed alliance went on to sweep all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state. At the national level, the Congress party was reduced to 140 seats—21 short of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. If the Congress had allied with the DMK, its tally could have crossed 161 making it the single- largest party and the President of India would have invited Rao rather than Vajpayee to form a coalition government. Had that happened, a different history would have been scripted.
Cut to 2019 and there is a sense of déjà vu about political alliances in Tamil Nadu and the role the state could play at the national level. This time, the BJP, led by Narendra Modi, has entered into a seat-sharing alliance with the AIADMK whose charismatic leader, Jayalalithaa, passed away two years ago. The AIADMK has already suffered a split, with T.T.V. Dhinakaran, the nephew of Jayalalithaa’s close confidante Sasikala, breaking away and forming a new party, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), that could play a spoiler for the ruling party in the state. Meanwhile, the Congress has allied with the DMK and there is a right royal battle on for supremacy.
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin April 15, 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin April 15, 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Killer Stress
Unhealthy work practices in Indian companies are taking a toll on employees, triggering health issues and sometimes even death
Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
