FEDERALISM’S RISE

REGIONAL PARTIES will be kingmakers in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Realising their importance, The Congress is stitching alliances with the RJD in Bihar, NCP in Maharashtra, JD( S) in Karnataka, JMM in Jharkhand, and the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP’s attempt for an alliance with the AIADMK and DMK, respectively, in the post-Jayalalithaa and post- Karunanidhi eras has failed so far. The Congress needs a tie- up with DMK in Tamil Nadu, if the largest secular party and its allies want to cross the halfway mark in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Khokan Das Kolkata