BJP's massive mandate in UP triggers debate on possible grand alliance

New Delhi: Astounding results in favour of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections have once again triggered a debate in political circles on the necessity of a Grand Alliance. All-against-one seems to be the only sound strategy for survival given the unrelenting Modi wave.

The arithmetic of electoral results in UP, Bihar and Delhi Assembly elections clearly demonstrate two things: One, that a split in votes helps the BJP romp home with a majority; and two, the situation changes considerably in a direct contest between the saffron party and a combined Opposition.

Opposition parties pooling their resources and coming together for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by ensuring there's no division of votes is then the only way forward.

Hit hard by results of UP Assembly elections, the Congress-led Opposition will be forced to re-work its strategy and think in terms of putting together a broader alliance for the next parliamentary elections to stop the surge of BJP which has gained in key elections due to division of votes.

Results of UP Assembly elections, for instance, clearly prove that a division of votes among Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party helped the BJP in getting a thumping majority.

It was not just the Muslim votes but OBCs and Dalits, the core votebase of SP and BSP, that got divided three ways, with a sizeable share going to the BJP as well.