The ongoing campaign and the nature of contests in the assembly polls in five states – Mizoram, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – were seen by many as an early test for the cohesiveness of the 28-parties national opposition alliance INDIA. Almost four months after it was formed in Bengaluru in July and two months after the bloc’s Mumbai meet, the teething troubles for the alliance are visible in the poll-bound states.
Far from working out any seat-sharing plan, the bloc allies find themselves as rivals in the fray. If these state polls are seen as the dry run for the bloc’s target of striking a synergy for the Lok Sabha polls next year, will the divergent notes of the allies in the state polls prove to be a dampener for building a sturdy national alliance of the opposition parties? But any answer to this question depends on how differently these parties devise their strategy for national polls in contrast to the state polls.
