India's main opposition bloc loses key ally

India's main Hindu nationalists-led opposition bloc was dealt a blow after one of its oldest members pulled out weeks ahead of the April-May general election, analysts said on Monday
The move could benefit a loose conglomeration of smaller parties led by the communists.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which broke away from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the weekend, will tie-up with the communists in the eastern state of Orissa which it rules.
Talks between the BJD and BJP broke down after they could not agree on sharing seats in Orissa.
"The BJP was more interested to accommodate more of its candidates instead of considering win ability. They were rather adamant," said Damodar Rout, a BJD spokesman.

Analysts said the move could benefit the Third Front which is trying to build an alternative to the two main national alliances -- one led by the ruling Congress party and the other by the opposition BJP.
"It is a major setback to the BJP," said Swapan Dasgupta, a political analyst.
But the BJD's tie-up with the communists is only at the state level, Dasgupta said, leaving the party enough space for post-poll bargaining and an eventual return to the NDA alliance.
"The BJD has not yet said it is going to the Third Front," Dasgupta said. "So it would not be right to say that because they are with the communists by implication they are with the Third Front."
Orissa has 21 parliamentary seats, of which the BJD won 11 and the BJP seven in the 2004 general election.
Since then, the BJD has consolidated its position in local polls while the BJP has slipped. Analysts said they expected the BJD to fare better at the expense of the BJP and the Congress.
The BJD had been a partner of the NDA since 1998.



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