New Seat Sharing Deals Drive the INDIA Bloc Ahead in the War of Perceptions

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – armed with an unparalleled control over the instruments of communication – tried to create the perception that Nitish Kumar’s switcheroo had caused an irreparable blow to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

The flight of the Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary in Uttar Pradesh and former chief minister Ashok Chavan in Maharashtra to the Hindutva fold further stoked the perception that the opposition had lost whatever chances it had to fight the BJP’s electoral war machine.

Hyper-active against the BJP’s political opponents and zealously protective of tainted…