All is not well: BJP must take feelings of alliance partners into account

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be well-advised to take the feelings of its alliance partners into account. They are now sniping at the senior partner quite openly. Recently, when asked if they had a meeting with the Prime Minister, a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP quipped that instead, they had a date with Gandhi-ji — he was referring to the Gandhi statue in Parliament which is the meeting point for all protests. Recently in an interview to the wire.in, Naresh Gujral cautioned the BJP to be more “diplomatic” in the handling of allies, stating if the BJP wants a coalition in future, they should not ride roughshod over the interests of the allies. Soon after, he was standing to the right of Harsimrat Kaur Badal, as she met the PM, leaving no one in any doubt about his closeness to the Badal family. All is not well in the alliance.