The clangour in the background—the awful sound of an alliance breaking, the footfalls of central sleuths—spoke of a battle of attrition. Not exactly tense, but taut with action, and without a lot of room for missteps. Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) chief, had just gone back to a friend-turned-foe-turned-friend. And CBI teams, playing in perfect time like a crack percussion section, had descended on the premises of five Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders, including two Rajya Sabha MPs.
This is a fairly accurate freeze-frame of the state of play as the BJP primes for the 2024 polls. A curious dichotomy attends to the situation: the big picture seems comfortable enough, with the Opposition taking the field in a state of disarray, but the details hold not a few devils for the ruling party. Some crucial NDA alliances from 2019—the JD(U) in Bihar and the Akali Dal in Punjab—no longer hold; others, such as the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, are depleted. In Maharashtra, the faction headed by new CM Eknath Shinde has formed a government with the BJP but is in a legal tangle with the Thackeray group over control of the party and its symbol. And in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK is a shadow of its former self after the assembly election defeat and factional battles.
This story is from the September 19, 2022 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.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 19, 2022 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.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Mamata Pushback
The West Bengal Chief Minister Faces A BJP Onslaught On Issues Like Corruption And Women's Safety. Unwilling To Yield An Inch, The TMC Is Building A Narrative That The Saffron Party Is 'Anti-Bengali'
Who Will Win The Mahayuddh?
In Maharashtra's Most Complex Political War Ever, Shifting Alliances Fuel A Gripping Saga Of Power Struggles And Betrayals In The Pursuit Of Votes
Grand Young Master
Seventeen-yearold D. Gukesh has become the youngest player to win the Candidates chess tournament
SPORTING SPIRIT
BADMINTON PLAYER ASHWINI PONNAPPA, 34, IS OFF TO HER THIRD OLYMPICS, THIS TIME WITH A NEW PARTNER, TANISHA CRASTO
PORTRAITS OF A PEOPLE
Etchings by the colonial Flemish artist F. Baltazard Solvyns are getting a new lease of life in an exhibition at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai
Centennial Man
A seminal exhibition of K.G. Subramanyan's works in his birth centenary year at Emami Art, Kolkata takes an imaginative and immersive curatorial approach
Rhythms of Nature
ARTIST AND MUSIC COMPOSER GINGGER SHANKAR'S LATEST SINGLE COMBINES SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC WITH INUIT THROAT SINGING
SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND
Kashmiri musician Faheem Abdullah’s debut album Lost; Found is a collaborative effort
FOUND IN TRANSLATION
With its excellent translations, Songs of Tagore makes Rabindrasangit accessible to the non-Bengali reader
Of Freedom and Friendship
T.C.A. RAGHAVAN'S CIRCLES OF FREEDOM FOLLOWS THREE YOUNG MUSLIMS DRAWN INTO THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE
