The Mahagathbandhan (or Grand Alliance), or MGB, or simply the Gathbandhan (Alliance), was an anti-Congress, anti-BJP, Indian political alliance formed in the run-up to the 2019 general election under the leadership of two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, along with Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and several other political parties, contesting in different states of India. The main aim of the opposition was to dethrone NDA and most importantly BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his policies and all his developmental projects were on target of the Mahagathbandhan. A day did not go without blaming the Prime Minister and all the leaders were showering abuses on the law maker and the opposition leaders were trying to make hey when the abuses were part and parcel of our political system. Over 56 abuses were showered on PM Modi and all thought that these abuses will fetch votes from the public. But the abuses did not attract vote bank and the voters turned towards the BJP and Modi in the end. The calculations of the Congress and the Gathbandhan went awry and in some constituencies the opposition ran for cover to get the deposit. NOTA did not come in the way to prevent BJPs surge as in Karnataka and to a certain extent in MP. The tables were turned and voices of Kejriwal, Mayawati, and Mamata all became silent in the wake BJPs victory march.
Mahagathbandhan opposed BJP’s Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections. Accordingly, the Mahagathbandhan attempted to compete in the 2019 election using caste vote bank arithmetic. The Mahagathbandhan alliance was projected as a “bulwark against a second term for BJP”, but found little support among the voters and was virtually swept away. Mayawati blamed the general elections defeat of the alliance on the weakness within the Samajwadi party, its failure to consolidate the backward caste votes. Mayawati ended the alliance. The Samajwadi Party confirmed the undoing of the Mahagathbandhan.
Delhi Chief Minister was raising his voice more as he was sharing the capital with the Prime Minister. The mere tag of Chowkidar went a long way in promoting the ideology of the Prime Minister. Stepping up the “MainBhiChowkidar” campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has added “Chowkidar” to his Twitter handle name. Mr. Modi had only on March 16 tweeted that everyone who was “fighting corruption, dirt, social evils” and all those “working hard for the progress of India is a Chowkidar and it became a trump card slogan in the end. Kejriwal is trying to pitch himself as a national opponent against Modi. This is the reason why he has chanted ‘Modi-Modi’ since 2013 even more than the ‘Modi-Bhakts‘. He was simply working on the principle that if you say a lie a 100 times, it becomes a truth. And since Modi does not reply to him at all, this adds more to his frustration. Rahul did make Rafael cry but to no avail. The performance of the Congress under him performed slightly better and he quit as Congress President to save his name from the disastrous defeat. Now he is not uttering any word against PM and the parliament is also functioning normally.
Mamata Banerjee was at her vocal best in criticising the Prime Minister but she become very soft when she realised her antics were only futile attempt and PM is really powerful. Mamata Banerjee, who had surprised everyone by accepting the invitation to PM Modi’s oath-taking ceremony, has backed out a day before irked by BJP’s allegations of political violence in West Bengal. The oath-taking ceremony is an august occasion to celebrate democracy, not one that should be devalued by any political party she felt but backed out at the eleventh hour quoting some lame excuses. Hence, her voice was softened and that of Chandra Babu Naidu, who was raising his high pitch voice against EVM functioning and became a silent man like Kejriwal. The taste of power in certain pockets made all these leaders power hungry but they were made to eat humble pie in the end. In all the opposition has become submissive and the Gathbandhan has collapsed without recognition.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
