There’s no clarity yet on who will be the prime ministerial candidate for the UPA-3 alliance. Even AP CM Chandrababu Naidu has no immediate clue. He may be having his own calculations. His urgent goal is to bring together the top leaders of all the 21 parties. This should take place before the announcement of results in order to prevent Modi from having any undue advantage. Now the question is whether Naidu will be successful or not in his bid to form a fully functional UPA-3 before May 23 counting.
The real test to Chandrababu lies in convincing top leaders to discuss and work together despite their conflict of interest. These leaders include Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal who need to be convinced. These national leaders are not easy to deal with as they have their own respective party priorities. Naidu has to walk a tight rope now. If an agreeable PM candidate is not announced, the UPA-3 will face serious identity crisis. The political atmosphere is very favorable for anti-Modi parties as of now. But any small mistake on their part would be greatly helpful to the BJP, which is skillful in last-minute manoeuvres and manipulations.
