On March 13, at the ‘united opposition’ dinner hosted by Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath, one of the leaders present joked that the UPA should reach out to disgruntled NDA allies such as the Shiv Sena and the Telugu Desam Party.
In barely 24 hours, the joke seemed more like an astute political prediction, as the apparently desperate alliance between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) swept to victory in by-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.
Just days earlier, disgruntled SP leader Naresh Agrawal had joined the BJP. Not holding back, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, taking aim at their putative allies, said it wasn’t the SP-BSP alliance that worked: “The BJP rolled out the red carpet for Agrawal, who has been very critical of Lord Ram; now Lord Ram has turned against the BJP.”
This story is from the March 26, 2018 edition of India Today.
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This story is from the March 26, 2018 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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