Regional parties emerge main hurdle in BJP's power march

With Jharkhand, the second state after Maharashtra, slipping out of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) hands within two months, it sends across the political message that the regional parties are holding against the BJP.

The results, so far, indicate that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine is well settled in the state.

On the Congress playing second fiddle to the JMM, a regional party, said a senior party leader that for stopping the BJP in its tracks the Congress decided to back the regional parties and anchor the alliance.

While few leaders said the party had to learn from the Karnataka episode where supporting the Janata Dal (Secular) back-fired and the government fell because of the rebellion in the party.

The Congress is re-adopting pre-2004 political strategy, when the party knit alliances with small parties and reached the position to dare and defeat the NDA led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

While the India's political map for the BJP is shrinking, with the regional parties playing a real spoiler for it, the Congress is trying to fish in this political waters.

While the Congress is set to go with the RJD in Bihar, the real challenge will be West Bengal where the BJP has emerged the main challenger to the TMC. It may have to choose between the TMC and the Left next year.

However, just round the corner is the Delhi Assembly elections, where the Congress may try to remove the zero tag that it gained after ruling the state for many years.IANS