by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
The New “King-Makers”
50 MP s of BJD, TRS, YSR make new PM
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Feb 6
If pollsters believe that Mamata Banerjee (TMC) or N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) or Mayawati (BSP) will be the “king Maker” in a hung Lok Sabha after the 2019 polls, they may be sadly mistaken.
The new King Makers on the horizon are three non-aligned parties; Biju Janata Dal (Odisha), YSR Congress (Andhra Pradesh), and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (Telangana) who are likely to get 45-50 Lok Sabha seats and play a crucial role in the formation of a new government if the BJP is restricted to 200 seats mark.
These three parties have decided to stay neutral and go it alone in the Lok Sabha polls. According to pollsters, YSR Congress is virtually sweeping the state of Andhra Pradesh which has 25 Lok Sabha seats. The YSR Congress is an off-shoot of the Congress Party and was formed when Y S Jaganmohan Reddy revolted after the tragic death of his father in a plane crash. He is expected to win at least 15-17 Lok Sabha seats. One of the reasons for Chandrababu Naidu to quit the NDA was his suspicion that BJP is hob-nobbing with the YSR Congress. Another indication of YSR Congress's friendly ties with the BJP is that Prashant Kishore is working with the party as its poll strategist. Jagan Mohan Reddy has already given Kishore a huge commercial space at Banzara Hills and he is running his poll campaign. K Chandrarao Rao is a known Modi Bhakt.
Similarly, the TRS headed by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is expected to win 15 Lok Sabha seats out of 17. He recently swept the Assembly polls and showed his popularity with the voters. The Congress and the BJP are contesting all 17 seats in the state. But pollsters believe that both the parties will draw a blank.
The Biju Janata Dal headed by Odisha Chief Minister is likely to win anywhere between 15-17 seats. During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJD had won 20 out of 21 seats while the BJP won one seat and the Congress drew a blank. The BJP is so desperate to placate Naveen Patnaik that it dumped B J Panda, who had resigned his seat to join the BJP. Panda is now sulking and left high & dry. Even Prime Minister Modi who was toying with the idea of contesting from Puri Lok Sabha seat in Odisha and take on Pantaik decided to look the other way.
The fact that Naveen Patnaik's sister Gita Mehta was offered Padma Shri by Modi, though she declined later citing wrong political message, is an indication that there is some tacit understanding between BJD and BJP.
The third indication of bon homie is that the CBI has gone silent in Odisha though BJD leaders were equally involved in the Chit Funds scam.
So this block of 50 Lok Sabha seats in a house of 543 will play a very crucial role if the BJP doesn't cross the 200 seats mark. The NDA parties (Shiv Sena, Janata Dal (U), LJP, Apna Dal, Akali Dal, AIADMK) are expected to get another 25-30 seats. Thus, PM Modi will need new “King Makers” to chip in a post-poll scenario.
Ends
