The Congress may gloat over winning two states and may be getting even Madhya Pradesh in its kitty, but Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's advice before polls – go for state-wide alliances instead of a national umbrella gathbandhan is sounding ominous.
Regional parties have analysed and reacted to the five state assembly polls that indicate it's not going to be an easy bargain for the Congress or Bharatiya Janata Party to get them on board.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati is said to have told her leaders she cannot go with the BJP 'at this point of time'. But Mayawati has always been unpredictable with her political moves and will bide her time before finally deciding.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav took potshots at the BJP as he tweeted earlier in the day. 'When one plus one becomes 11, the biggies have to pack their bags,' he tweeted.
SP has offered to support the Congress in Madhya Pradesh in case they form the government. Both, the SP and BSP fought together in Kairana bypolls a few months ago and won the Loksabha seat against the BJP. It will be interesting to see how the three parties go in the 2019 general elections.
Shiv Sena in Maharashtra seemed to have found a common plank over Ram temple even though the party had been on a warpath with the BJP, despite sharing power in both the state as well as the Centre.
However, after Tuesday's results, it didn't show much love for the BJP. The Sena changed its tune again. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray said voters have shown courage without getting into a debate over who is the option. "The voters went beyond EVM (tampering), bribe for vote, goondagardi or the debate over who was the option and discarded parties in four states. They have shown the way to the nation," Thackeray said in his statement.
Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam, that was part of the Congress-led UPA before A Raja was arrested over alleged 2G scam, also showed that they were warming up to the Congress as Kanimojhi tweeted and tagged Rahul Gandhi: The much promised #AchheDin #GoodDay has (sic) finally arrived.
Telangana Rashtriya Samiti showed its mettle in Telangana and will be in the driving seat with All India Majlis e Ittehadul Musalmeen in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as the alliance did spectacularly well in Telangana against Congress and Telugu Desam Party alliance.
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