BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee before their meeting at TMC party office in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI Photo

Facing threat of extinction, opposition parties are coming together to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP may rejoice the situation as it is forcing opposition parties to join hands, something former Union minister and the saffron party leader Arun Shourie has predicted – that Modi will succeed in uniting all opposition parties before 2019. But the developments must also worry the saffron party. For overconfidence kills!

Early work on the idea of a federal front proposed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekhar Rao has started. However, Banerjee’s idea is a bit different from KCR. The Telangana CM had proposed a non-BJP, non-Congress front. Banerjee wants the Congress to join the united opposition.

On Wednesday, Banerjee met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to urge the Congress to become a part of the federal front for 2019 elections. She also met a number of other leaders including NCP head Sharad Pawar, leaders of regional parties like Shiv Sena, disgruntled BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha.

According to PTI, Banerjee discussed the plan for a “one-on-one” fight against BJP with Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Recently in Uttar Pradesh bypolls, Samajwadi Party and BSP had fielded a single candidate against BJP and defeated the saffron party.

Without the support of Congress, it is true that no front will be able to successfully defeat BJP. Banerjee knows this better.

On Wednesday, Banerjee told Sonia to make the Congress a part of the “united opposition.”

Banerjee’s federal front idea proposes to put a united front against BJP in all states allowing the strongest state-level anti-BJP party to call the shots.

“I have told Sonia ji what the country wants is that there should be a state-wise one-to-one fight against the BJP. Whichever party is the strongest in the state, that party should contest in that state against the BJP,” Banerjee was quoted as saying by PTI.

She says the strongest opposition party in states should be supported by the rest to defeat BJP.

Banerjee also met Shourie, who said that if the “one-on-one” formula is put into effect, the opposition will be able to corner 69 per cent votes.

Yashwant Sinha or Shatrughan Sinha have not declared whether they would join the united opposition. Yashwant Sinha, however, finds the role taken up by Banerjee to “save the country” as “appreciable”.

Can Mamata unite opposition?

Questions are being asked about whether Banerjee will be able to unite all opposition parties.

After the recent bypoll results in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, a growing sense has dawned on the opposition parties that they need to stop the division of anti-BJP votes.

At its recent plenary, Congress had declared its support to “pragmatic alliances” but the party has not aggressively taken upon itself the task to unite opposition parties. In such a situation, Banerjee’s role becomes more significant for the ant-BJP parties.

Banerjee is expected to win a majority of 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. She can talk to any party as her TMC is not involved in a direct contest with any regional party. If she succeeds in uniting the opposition parties, Banerjee may even emerge as a consensus candidate for the Prime Minister’s post in 2019. However, she may face trouble from the Congress itself or by regional parties known for their contradictions.

Whatever the impact of Mamata’s attempt may be, an-anti Modi storm is certainly brewing.