Modi may have an edge over Congress today, but why Neerja suspects the electoral battlefield .................?
NC sees sense in : Accretion is the second aspect of his strategy — to reach out to those who left the party, like Keshubhai Patel, B S Yeddyurappa and Babulal Marandi, while trying to tie up with regional outfits such as Om Prakash Chautala's INLD and Telugu Desam. He is trying to bring estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray on the same platform, using corporate intermediaries.
On the flip side, challenges before Modi are not a few. Even if there were an undercurrent of support for him across the country, BJP does not have a presence in most of east and south India. There are around 225 seats where its presence is virtually non-existent.
Siddharamaiah is holding his own in Karnataka, the party has hardly any base in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh has thrown up new forces in Jagan Reddy and Telangana Rashtra Samithi, though Jagan's praise for Modi's administrative skills showed that he is keeping his post-poll options open. Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik hold sway in their respective states.
Given these constraints, Modi will have to sweep in north and western India to cross Atal Bihari Vajpayee's magical tally of 182 seats, which was adequate for a "moderate" Vajpayee to attract 24 allies in 1998 and form a government in Delhi. But a "polarising" Modi may have to reach 200 to be able to make a pitch for power.
**India Honest : presumes a wind blowing from North to South may not reach extreme South, but the next six to eight months in the history of India are crucial enough; and a 30- 40 speed may become a Typhoon (hurricane) with wind speed of 100-150 and trust your inner sense it must reach Kochi and Kanyakumari, though may be with lighter impact.
**IH guarantees, NC won't be wrong with a reasonable forecast of around 60-80 seats, in collaboration of presumed plus new alliance partners, from extreme south.