‘Mahagathbandhan’ Versus BJP: What to Expect in 2019 Elections?

How big a challenge will the Mahagathbandhan pose to the BJP in 2019?

From left, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, JDS chief Deve Gowda, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi attend a meeting of Opposition parties in New Delhi.

(Photo: AP)

Top leaders of 21 Opposition parties, barring the BSP and the SP, met in Delhi on Monday, 10 December, and vowed to forge a united front to fight and defeat the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, alleging "systematic denigration of democracy" and assault on the Constitution and institutions like the RBI under the BJP government.

What can be expected in 2019 as the Grand Alliance has decided to challenge the PM Modi-led government?

Bloomberg Quint decodes the political scenario in conversation with political writer Aditi Phadnis, political strategist Amitabh Tiwari and founder-director of CVoter International Yashwant Deshmukh.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), who are major players in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, skipped the meeting held on the eve of the winter session of Parliament starting on Tuesday but no reason was given.

It is for the first time that AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart and TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu attended a joint Opposition meet.

The meeting held in Parliament House annexe also came a day ahead of the results of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls.

After the meeting, the Opposition leaders said their parties decided to get together irrespective of their political ideologies due to "democratic compulsions", to help protect the country, the Constitution and its institutions which allegedly were under attack by the BJP and the RSS.

They said the Opposition leaders will meet again and chalk out a strategy to oust the BJP from power and will move jointly forward and prepare an action plan in the coming days.

A joint statement issued later said India needs a government, for which Democracy is the "magna carta" beyond the victories and losses of electoral battles.

(With inputs from PTI)