As Assembly polls near, parties look for tieups

No political party is confident of coming to power on its own in the upcoming Assembly polls in Assam, Kerala and West Bengal while major Dravidian parties like the AIADMK and the DMK too are looking for partners in the battle for power in Tamil Nadu.

It will be interesting to see whether the BJP will make Hindutva and terrorism an issue in Assam and Kerala.

The saffron party, which has been lacking a “face” in these states, is optimistic that it will get space due to the anti-incumbency factor and stagnation in politics.

But in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, polls are fought on regional might and charismatic personalities.

While the BJP hardly identifies with regional issues unless they are related to Hindutva, directly or indirectly as was seen in Gujarat, the Congress does not believe in encouraging regional leaders because they would be potential challengers to the Gandhi-Nehru family. Moreover, the Congress’ priority is to retain power in Assam and Kerala at any cost.

This is because its defeat in these two states will have a bearing on the crucial Punjab Assembly polls early next year.

The Congress gained in Bihar due to its tactical pre-poll alliance with the JD(U)-RJD combine against the BJP which is not a major player in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. It can be checked in Assam if the anti-BJP parties reach an understanding in the elections.

While elections in Kerala will be fought between the Congress-led and the Left-led fronts under the banners of the UDF and the LDF, the situation in West Bengal is different as the Trinamul Congress and the Left are looking for non-BJP parties for alliances.

In Tamil Nadu, the picture of pre-poll alliances is yet to become clear. The two national parties — the Congress and the BJP — will fight the elections not to form governments in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, but to remain relevant there.

Meanwhile, the Trinamul Congress on Sunday accused the BJP and the RSS of carrying out a campaign to spread canards and “polarise” the voters in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections there.

“A few days ago there were posters saying — Mamata “Nero”, ‘Bengal Burning’ — put up in some parts of central Delhi. There were similar campaigns on the social media too.

“There are about a 100 days to go for the Bengal elections. The BJP and RSS are trying to spread canards to divert the attention from good governance done in five years,” TMC spokesperson Derek O’Brien said here.