3. Congress May Have to Recalibrate
The alliance may force the Congress to rework some of its strategy for the election. The party won in 2017 as a result of a rainbow coalition gaining Dalit votes from BSP, Upper Case Hindu votes from BJP and Jat Sikh votes from SAD.
Now each of these vote banks may be in danger. The SAD-BSP alliance would no doubt try to win Dalit support from the Congress and Jat Sikh support from both AAP and Congress. The BJP on the other hand will try and win back its Hindu Upper Caste vote. Though it has been trying to woo Dalits as well, this doesn’t seem to have yielded much so far.
The Congress would have to work extra hard to retain these vote banks.
While the a split in Jatt Sikh votes between SAD, Congress and AAP is almost certain. It may get further complicated if a section of those involved in farmers’ protests decide to enter the political arena.
Given the splintering of the Jatt Sikh votes, a great deal would depend on Dalit votes and Upper Caste Hindu…