Now numbers game ... from Opposition I.N.D.I alliance point of view ::::: AAP fields 3 sitting MLAs in Delhi

Himachal Pradesh, BJP leader Jairam Thakur says "This Congress government has lost all the moral rights to stay in power. As far as I have been informed, CM Sukhu has also presented his resignation inside the House. Maybe the high command has asked him I am not sure..."

There are nearly 100 seats in four states - Tamil Nadu - 39, Kerala - 20, Andhra Pradesh - 25 and Punjab -13 ... where it was clean sweep for them in 2019.

In other words out of 97 seats, the BJP had only one - actor Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur. 

Of course in Punjab, the Akali Dal - then an ally of the saffron party- had won two seats -- husband-wife duo of Badals.

From Sukhbir Singh Badal won and from Bathinda, it was Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who also served as Minister in the Modi cabinet in Modi Sarkar 1.0 and also Modi Sarkar 2.0 -- till the farm law came the Akalis walked out of the NDA.

The AAP has been winning Delhi assembly polls consecutively 2015 and 2020 recording landslides wins, but in both Lok Sabha polls 2014 and 2019, it could not open even one seat out of seven. 

From statistical point of view, the move to ally with the Congress looks good. The party has now named four candidates in Delhi. 

Malviya Nagar MLA, Somnath Bharti will be AAP nominee from New Delhi (won by BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi). Bharti is also the Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman.

Mahabal Mishra, a former Congress MP from West Delhi, is contesting from the same constituency, this time on an AAP ticket. 

The 70-year-old leader had quit the Congress years ago and will be contesting the seat with a high number of Purvanchali voters. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections against BJP's Parvesh Verma, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma. 

Kuldeep Kumar, a sitting SC MLA from Kondli, will be AAP's candidate from East Delhi.  

The constituency is currently represented by BJP's celebrity candidate Gautam Gambhir.  

The AAP has fielded Tughlakabad MLA Sahi Ram Pahalwan from South Delhi seat. The constituency is currently represented by BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri.

The Congress party will contest on North East Delhi, North West, and Chandni Chowk seats. 

In Haryana, AAP has fielded former Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta from Kurukshetra. The AAP had already announced its three candidates for Assam and two for Gujarat.

As far as Delhi is concerned, a similar seat sharing formula was proposed by then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But the talks between the two parties had collapsed. 

The BJP had clinched all seven seats in the Capital in the 2019 elections in a rout for the AAP and Congress who together secured fewer than 50% of the votes polled.

Besides AAP, the Congress has also struck a seat sharing arrangement with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha. The grand old party will contest on 17 seats while SP and other allies will contest on the remaining 63.

In Kerala, the advantage is always with the non-BJP forces that is the Left and the Congress. The BJP does not even one MLA out of 140 in the Kerala assembly and in 2019 Lok Sabha polls too, it could not do any miracle. Andhra Pradesh also continues to give electoral nightmare to the BJP. 

Hence, if Opposition wants to put up a stiff fight, they will have to retain their grip in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and two southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. But the CPI decision to field Annie Raja, wife of party leader D Raja, from Wayanad has so far given mixed signals. Why the communists are now bent upon life further miserable for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ? 

It could appear a 'local Kerala-based drama', but the communists want to emphasise that the battle in the southern state is between UDF led by Congress and UDF.   

The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday announced candidates for four Kerala Lok Sabha seats, nominating senior party leader Annie Raja to contest from the Wayanad constituency, a seat presently held by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"For such a long time, CPI - under the LDF alliance - is contesting on the four seats...This time also, the party has announced its candidates for all these four constituencies. In Kerala, the fight is between LDF and UDF. So, there is nothing new in that...The situation is the same, nothing has changed," Ms Annie Raja said.

"Earlier in 2019, the CPI contested against Rahul Gandhi. We have been contesting elections from there for a very long time," she added.

Rajya Sabha MP and CPI (M) Secretary Binoy Viswam questioned the political logic of Rahul Gandhi contesting from Kerala.

Another senior CPI-M leader Brinda Karat backed the CPI move. 

"The CPI has declared its candidate for the seat in Wayanad, Comrade Annie Raja, who has played a key role in 'Mahila Andholan'. Now she will be the candidate from the side of the whole LDF," he said. 

"Rahul Gandhi and the Congress need to think, they say that their fight is against BJP. In Kerala, if you come and fight against Left, what message are you giving? So they need to think about their seat once again," she said.

Interesting times ahead.

ends 

In Punjab, Gurdaspur is becoming a key seat from the BJP's point of view.  

Ex-MP and state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar and Kavita Khanna, wife of four-time MP and film icon Vinod Khanna, are leading the race for the BJP with half a dozen more contenders trying their luck.

Jakhar remained the Gurdaspur MP for 18 months and hence knows the political topography of the area. He, however, is keeping his cards close to the chest. On the other hand, there is a growing feeling that the party will use his services in all 13 seats. A decent performance means the doors of the Rajya Sabha will open for him.

Kavita Khanna, a Barrister-at-Law and a postgraduate in economics from a London university, had been in contention for the 2017 bypoll and the 2019 elections. Her appointment as chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Sonepat, indicates that she is on the right side of the central leadership. She also enjoys the unstinted support of a powerful spiritual leader having close ties in the top echelons of the BJP, says a report in 'The Tribune' newspaper. 

Pathankot MLA Ashwani Sharma is also interested but what goes against him is the fact that he had protested Jakhar’s elevation as the state president. 

Also in the fray are ex-MLAs Ashwani Sekhri, Fateh Jung Bajwa and Dinesh Babbu and former Pathankot Mayor Anil Vasudeva. In fact, Vasudeva has been the BJP’s go-to man when the going gets tough for the party.