Opinion: In Opposition's Unity Fumble, Maharashtra, Bihar Are Exhibit A

Five years ago, around this time, the UPA or United Progressive Alliance was still alive and possible permutations and combinations of opposition unity were discussed on various forums. The question central to their theme of uprooting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP was, what would happen in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP had swept the 2014 Lok Sabha election by winning 73 of 80 seats.

Almost everyone in the anti-Modi grouping hoped against hope - if only Mayawati's Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party could come together, they thought, it would be endgame for Modi. Their wishes came true and more; not just Samajwadi Party and BSP but Ajit Singh's RLD joined that Gathbandhan (grand coalition). The Congress was the hidden partner, as both SP and BSP announced they wouldn't put up any candidate in Amethi and Raebareli against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The Congress was to return the favour in some seats.

The protagonists and supporters of that Gathbandhan, as also of the UPA, dug up an old slogan of the 1990s, "Mile Mulayam Kanshi Ram Hawa Me Udd Gaye Jai Shri Ram (if Mulayam Singh Yadav and Kashi Ram join hands, they can beat Jai Shri Ram)" to try and score a psychological victory over the BJP and its support base. Of course, none really cared to tell the full story of how the two parties faired in the subsequent assembly elections.