NEW DELHI: With the BJP on course for a comprehensive victory across the country, particularly in Uttar Pradesh where it has consolidated its lead, the writing is on the wall for the bua-bhatija combine of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati . The much-touted Mahagathbandhan (MGB) of SP, BSP and RLD seems to have floundered in front of the persona of Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh.With the Modi juggernaut having swept the state once again, the MGB faces an existentialist question. The BSP-SP understanding — Mayawati would be their PM candidate or the go-to person in Delhi and in national politics, while Akhilesh was happy to play second fiddle at the state-level - would be put to test in the coming months.Lok Sabha election complete coverageDespite BJP winning big in UP, there is little doubt that it could have been far worse for the opposition if they hadn’t teamed up. The MGB is likely to gain approximately 12 seats from their 2014 tally. Having said that, trends suggest BJP has registered a healthy increase in vote share to nearly 50% in many seats in UP. This means that any increase in vote share for MGB would be of little consequence. BJP has been in power at the Centre for five years and in the state for the past two years, Akhilesh and Maya have failed to capitalise on the anti-incumbency, especially against many sitting BJP MPs, in large party because they chose to limit their attacks to just Prime Minister Narendra Modi rather than focusing on local issues affecting the people.Lok Sabha election 2019Modi, meanwhile, deserves credit for changing tack with his ‘mahamilawat’ jibe during the election campaign to take on the MGB. The young voters too seemed to have moved over from caste-based politics towards BJP’s nationalistic brand of politics. This would perhaps be one of the main explanations why BJP’s vote share seems to be going up compared to MGB’s marginal gains. Akhilesh and Mayawati need to prepare a blueprint to attract new and young voters and shift focus from OBC-Dalit identity towards the politics of aspiration if they are to compete with BJP in the future.But before they get down to introspection over what went wrong in this election campaign, a larger question looms -- who will call the shots in UP between Akhilesh and Maya if the alliance continues?