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P. 13
general elections
As BJP tries hard to prevent the
campaign from being about its own
record of five years in office, rival
parties are busy focusing on it
no bones about her ambitions for the top post besides Though the Congress leadership was criticised for
the self-projection of West Bengal chief minister fighting against SP-BSP-RLD combine in UP and AAP
and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Baner- in Delhi, party sources said they had lined up several
jee, could throw up a tricky round of negotiations. pre-poll alliances across states and these would come
Congress insiders said these three leaders had played handy after the Lok Sabha results were out.
a crucial role in containing the BJP in their respective After sharing power with the Janata Dal-Secular
states and their role in the next government forma- in Karnataka, the Congress had formed major alli-
tion would be key. ances in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra
To ensure all goes well, Congress sources said and Jammu and Kashmir and is hopeful of getting the
communication lines have remained functional with support of CPI-M, CPI, NCP, SP, BSP, RJD, RLD, DMK,
the like-minded parties during the campaign so that NC, TDP, TMC, JMM, JVM, YSR Congress, RLSP and
the shared objective of keeping the BJP out of power AIUDF among others.
was not lost. Discussions around the post-poll situations have
Tehelka / 31 may 2019 13 www.Tehelka.com
