Mega alliance zeroes in on 400 seats

The Opposition has not been sitting idle since the Karnataka results were out. They have identified 400 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats where the BJP can be confronted in a one-on-one contest.

This has been confirmed by none other than NCP leader Majid Memon. Talking with CNN IBN News18, he said the unity jigsaw had begun to fall in place even before the elections were out. “Almost all non-BJP parties from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from Abdullah to Stalin - have volunteered to come together burying their internal differences,” Memon told the channel.

These efforts are being chaperoned by Sharad Pawar, KCR and Mamata Banerjee, to name a few. Significantly, Congress is ready to play the second fiddle, where state-specific situation warrants. A senior Congress leader, who is close to both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, admitted to the channel that the party will have to take the back seat in certain states.

Many are hoping that this pan-India alliance will make it tough for the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has even written a letter to Sonia Gandhi, proposing a mega alliance with the Congress and other opposition parties with a seat-sharing formula for the

2019 state assembly polls, sources said. Pawar, on Sunday, had stated the need for all opposition parties to come together against the BJP, while addressing a 'halla bol' rally at Pune. Ashok Chavan, president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, on Saturday held a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai to discuss a possible alliance with like-minded parties. In his letter to Gandhi, Pawar has stated, "Congress and NCP can each contest 131 seats, of the total 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra. The remaining 26 seats can be shared with other allies."