COVER STORY
by Bhavna Vij-Aurora
IT all happened over a phone call . Ahead of the bypolls to Kairana and Noorpur in Uttar Pradesh last week , the young Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav suggested a tie-up to Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary — another one from the new generation in Indian politics . Within a few hours of the conversation , one more flank had been firmed up in the emerging anti-BJP phalanx . And the fate of India ’ s biggest electoral state , with its 80 Lok Sabha seats , probably swung a bit more decisively with that phone call . It was perhaps like the last , small weight that tilts the scales .
The two scions — among a fresh crop of politicians who are taking crucial calls these days , along with Tejashwi Yadav — cut a simple deal . Their respective parties would contest one seat each . Both the Kairana Lok Sabha seat and the Noorpur assembly constituency were in the Jat heartland of western UP , where the RLD is a key player . Kairana was left for Charan Singh ’ s legatees , almost as if to clinch the deal . Noorpur was left for SP . The decision was communicated to Mayawati ’ s BSP , which readily agreed not to field candidates .
The duo then zeroed in on Tabassum
TURNING POINT ? Samajwadi supporters celebrate the opposition ’ s win in Kairana
AN ANTI-MODI
With 2019 pitched as Modi versus the rest , a seemingly resurgent opposi
34 OUTLOOK 18 June 2018