Page 6 - 15FEB2019E

Letters
Special RepoRt SP-BSP alliance for 2019 general electionS may Put BJP in tight SPot
issue
1 & 2
Volume 16
31 jan 2019
new Delhi
IntervIew
With
Law Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad
24
Declassified documents
prove NASA’s secret
relations with CIA and US
military agencies from the
beginning 12
www.tehelka.com www.facebook.com/tehelka www.twitter.com/tehelka doom for BJP. the 2014 Lok Sabha as well the
1st & 2nd Cover-NASA 2019.indd 1 15/01/19
TREE FELLiNG
HURTS ALL
With reference to the report “Development at the cost of green
trees” by Rakesh Rocky (October 15, 2018) rely on mutual vote transfer. The
There were reports that many
trees and saplings were cut for a
temporary helipad to be in place
for the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s visit in Odisha.
Recently, when the Karnataka
government wanted to build a
steel bridge in Bengaluru — a
project that would have resulted
in the destruction of numerous
trees — citizens protested and
the plan was dropped.
When people are constantly
advised to ensure ecological
balance and be environmentally
aware, the incident in Odisha
raises eyebrows — that there is a
different set of rules and laws for
leaders and important people.
R SRidHARAN
Tehelka / 15 february 2019 6 www.Tehelka.com
letters@tehelka.com
Samajwadi Party and Excluding the Congress from
BSP make natural allies the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan
43
Samaj Party combine’s alliance
With reference to the report “SP-BSP alliance for
2019 general elections may put BJP in tight spot” in Uttar Pradesh has been the
by Mudit Mathur (January 31)
subject of lively media debate
With its formalisation, the SP-
BSP alliance for the upcoming soon after the announcement
parliamentary election assumes by the respective party leaders,
Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.
considerable political signifi-
The consensus in these debates
cance and lends an entirely new
dimension to the 2019 electoral has revolved around a landslide
battle. It is organic, solid and win awaiting the SP-BSP alli-
formidable and can prove to ance. Media discourse, however,
be a winning combination and seems to have overlooked one
a game-changer. It represents important determinant of
the poll outcome, namely, the
the unity of social justice and
Congress’s role as a vote divider.
secular forces and gives a fresh
impetus to Opposition unity and Although the Congress hardly
inversely portends gloom and created a ripple in the State in
BSP and SP are in the same is unlikely to turn out to be
4:09 PM 2017 Assembly elections, 2019
ideological domain and make another dismal event for the
natural allies. The cohesive
party.
power of common political Elections in Madhya Pradesh,
objectives is sure to make it
work on the ground as it did in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh
the by-polls. Both the parties can seem to have heralded the
resurgence of the national party.
The formation of an alliance-led
poll pact is predicated on parity government in Karnataka has
on seat sharing. When the alli- boosted the morale of its cadres.
ance ensures the avoidance of
the split of the anti-BJP secular Party president Rahul Gandhi
has also been on a propaganda
vote to a large extent, there is no juggernaut. In UP, the party is
way the BJP can repeat its 2014
performance. sure to have a respectable share
of votes in most constituencies
It is said that the road to particularly those with pockets
Delhi goes through Lucknow. of minorities. The division of
No other state determines the
overall outcome of Lok Sabha votes will definitely hurt the
gathbandhan to the advantage
election as Uttar Pradesh. UP of the BJP.
is crucial for the formation of
the next government. It will kr krishna iyer
be an uphill task for BJP to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
return to power if the pre-poll
alliance reverses the party’s line at the BJP’s national council
near clean sweep in 2014. Im- meet criticising the alliance poli-
tics of the Opposition says much
plicit in BJP’s denunciation of about the political realities. The
the Bua-Bhatija tie-up as ‘op-
portunistic’ is the recognition of newfound friendship between
arch rivals, the SP and the BSP,
the insurmountable challenge in Uttar Pradesh has left the
posed by it. BJP needs more
than the Hindutva card and Congress cold.
The alliance in West Bengal
coinages like mazboot, majboor is in the doldrums. An enthused
to woo and win back voters TRS chief and Telangana Chief
disaffected with the central and
state governments. Minister K Chandrashekar Rao
is leaving no stone unturned to
G DaviD milton