New Delhi: Regional parties hold the key to the poll story. India votes in the fifth and final phase of polls on May 13, 2009.
Untill the counting day on May 16, 2009 all fates will be sealed but speculation and forging alliances will go on.
Meanwhile, in the Hindi heartland, the top three being wooed are Mayawati, the Fourth Front of the Yadavs and Nitish Kumar. Amongst them, the BSP and the Fourth Front are hiking up their price for support.
Sources close to Mayawati say she is neither in talks with the Congress-led UPA or the BJP-led NDA on any post-poll tie up. Sources add that Mayawati is surely with the Third Front, as of now.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh says his party is open to talks with the Left. He has also said the ball is in the Congress's court when it comes to talking about an alliance.
Southwards, Tamil Nadu is set to be the game-changer state. AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa is set to play a key role in the formation or otherwise of the next government.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that the Congress is not interested in an alliance with Jayalalitha - and prefers to stick to its current ally DMK.
Relations between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the AIADMK chief are strained. Jayalalithaa has openly criticised the Congress in her election rallies.
The BJP seems to be now wooing Jayalalithaa. The calculation is that if the AIADMK wins only half of the 39 seats in the state, it'll be a welcome addition to the NDA.
For the Congress, AIADMK would be of use only if the party wins more than 30 seats.
Comments
0 comment