Brake on unity moves; Opp will wait & watch

Because of the dramatic results thrown up by the exit polls, the Opposition is in a tizzy and its unity parleys have gone for a toss. A part of the problem is that almost all the pollsters have predicted a fairly emphatic win for the BJP and the forecast can’t be shrugged off.

Were it not for the exit polls, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had his work cut out for him: he was planning to float the proposed opposition front and send the names of its constituents to President Ramnath Kovind, before the counting of the Lok Sabha votes; but this presumptuous scheme has been put on hold.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi felt that Naidu should not rush with the front but wait for the haze to lift. Rahul had a meeting with party functionaries on Monday to discuss the exit polls and made a state-wise assessment. A party leader said the consensus was that the exit polls appear to be orchestrated by a pliable media and they were not grounded in reality.

Naidu, nonetheless, travelled to Kolkata on Monday to speak to his Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. The TDP leader said everyone

he spoke with agreed on formation of the front, but he was advised to wait till the counting concludes on Thursday, in view of the prevailing confusion. BSP supremo and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also had a meeting in Lucknow and exuded confidence that they will win no less than 40 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Both leaders had advised Naidu two days ago to desist from jumping the gun on the proposed front. Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, who was camping in Delhi on the request of the Congress, left for Mumbai on Monday to host an Iftaar party; he too feels they should stay in a wait and watch mode for the moment. Party sources said he would be, however, back in Delhi on Tuesday or Wednesday to be available for consultations before the counting of votes.