New Delhi: Assembly elections in the key four states — Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh — will compel regional players and arch rivals, like the JD(U), RJD, LJP, Trinamul Congress, Dravidian parties, Samajwadi Party and the BSP, not to back Narendra Modi as Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha elections next year if the BJP comes to power.
These parties will have to come together to prevent Mr Modi from occupying the top post as any division among them could send out the wrong message to the minorities, which may influence the Assembly polls in these states. These four states together elect 201 Lok Sabha members.
While the Assembly polls in Bihar and Jharkhand will be held in 2015, one year after the general election, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu will be going to the polls in 2016. In Uttar Pradesh, the state elections will be held in 2017. Therefore, any attempt to dilute their secular credentials due to state compulsions may lead to new combinations in these states, non-NDA leaders feel.
Modi has not been able to win over a single anti Congress party in the Ganga-Jamuna belt and of course West Bengal, yet. This is because he continues to remain unacceptable to the regional players.
