The hope of stitching the Maha-gathbandhan remains after the victory of Aahmed Patel.
The last minute triumph of Ahmed Patel’s has proved a morale booster to the Congress. It has shown that the party can stop the Shah-Modi juggernaut in its tracks, even in their homeland. It is Amit Shah who has suffered a grave setback.
It is he who now has to keep his flock together. The Congress and its emerging partners are now more confident than they perhaps were before Shah’s debacle in Gujarat.
The JD(U) president, Sharad Yadav, has demonstrated that a substantial segment of the party he leads – very possibly a strong and credible segment – remains committed to the Maha-gathbandan.
It is Nitish Kumar who has rendered himself vulnerable by surrendering his minority share of the erstwhile Bihar Maha-gathbandan to the very forces he worsted at the hustings.
Even if not in office, the logic of the Maha-gathbandan remains.
U.Srinivas
Editor
