Opposition leaders during H D Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony at the Grand Steps of Vidhana Soudha. (Arijit Sen/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Opposition leaders during H D Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony at the Grand Steps of Vidhana Soudha. (Arijit Sen/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) 
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From Kashmir To Tamil Nadu: Opposition To Challenge BJP In ‘400 One-On-One Contests’ In 2019

BySwarajya Staff

Drawing the battle lines for 2019, the opposition parties are aiming to “pin down the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a one-on-one contest in 400 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats”, according to a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, News18 has reported.

Majid Memon said the opposition parties have decided to “bury their internal differences” with the sole aim of scuttling BJP poll plans.

“Almost all non-BJP parties - from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from Abdullah to Stalin - have volunteered to come together burying their internal differences,” Memon said.

The BJP will be pitted against an apparently united opposition, the most successful instance of which has been the coming together of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls.

Opposition party leaders said the plan will be state specific as it has become clear the concept of ‘one size fits all’ won’t work. Sources said the parties will have alliances in some places, but not in others, with a senior Congress leader admitting that the party will have to take the back seat in certain states.

“The Mahagathbandhan will be finalised by December, after the assembly polls,” a Congress source said.

With the opposition drawing strength from this one element - “everyone wants the BJP out”, the challenges that could override the unity, as the opposition admits, are “managing the egos” and ensuring transparency in ticket distribution.