Regional players are refusing to ally with the BJP hoping to come back to power at the Centre. They are also not keen to go with the Congress fearing that the anti-incumbency could damage their electoral prospects in key states.
The regional players talking of forming a “Federal Front”, have realised that they are not going to gain by allying with the BJP whose election campaign committee is headed by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, BSP chief Mayawati, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee are reluctant to work with Mr Modi for different reasons.
In fact, all of them had worked with the saffron party directly or indirectly. Significantly, even the NDA allies — the Janata Dal(U) and the Shiv Sena — are uncomfortable with Mr Modi. The reason behind their reluctance is that any association with Mr Modi would mar their electoral prospects in Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar and Maharashtra.
While the Modi supporters in the BJP and outside foresee a wave in his favour because of his strong (hard) image and development in Gujarat, the Congress leaders said Mr Modi will be known for Naroda Patiya (massacre) in Gujarat and certainly not for developmental works.
Drawing attention to Mr Modi’s level of political discourse, they said he could be comfortable with a section of the media, social media and media management but he has not identified with the down-trodden.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday suggested that there was no difference between Mr L.K. Advani and Mr Modi as to who was more secular. “Advani is more in age (than Modi) and one has to respect the age. It is our culture...” was the reaction of party spokesman Raj Babbar when asked by reporters whether the Congress felt that Mr Advani is more secular than Mr Modi.
He also side-stepped questions as to what was the difference between Mr Advani and Mr Modi.
“It is not for us to tell a senior journalist like you. It is time you go into it,” he merely told the questioner.
Mr Babbar at the outset said that what was being witnessed was an “internal matter” of that party.
At the same time, he took pot-shots at the Sangh Parivar and the BJP contending that the developments since 1925 when the RSS was founded had shown that “these people are anti-political”.