Congress proposes grand alliance for 2019

Are we about to witness a grand alliance on the national front? With the Bharatiya Janata Party appearing to be unstoppable, the Congress said that it is exploring all options including a grand alliance to stop the BJP march. The alliance is likely to take shape in the next year and would be ready for the 2019 general elections.

The idea of a grand alliance came up after the Janata Dal-United and the Rashtriya Lok Dal said had the SP, BSP and Congress formed the alliance in UP, the BJP would not have won. While the Congress has shown a keen interest in this alliance, it may not lead the grouping.

The JD-U feels that it should lead the



alliance on the national front. The alliance should be fought under the leadership of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, many in the JD-U feel. Joining the fray was the Communist Party of India-Marxist too. The party felt that a common agenda should be made and the 2019 elections should be fought on this ground.

In the editorial of the forthcoming issue of the CPI-M's weekly mouthpiece, People's Democracy, Prakash Karat writes, 'The UP verdict has underscored the necessity for alliances of political parties against the BJP being forged on the basis of common programmes and policies. The abject failure of the SP-Congress alliance is a pointer.'