Click to play videoNew Delhi: Congress is in trouble in the Hindi heartland states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar after three of its allies - the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) - formed an alternate front.
RJD, LJSP and SP joined hands in an attempt to perhaps strengthen their own position post polls. With Congress finding itself increasingly isolated in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, it is now trying its best to woo key National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The coming together of Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and Mulayam Singh Yadav will also open up new possibilities post polls.
All the three regional satraps wear their secular credentials on their sleeves and boast of powerful caste strongholds.
The two Yadavs are champions of Muslim-Yadav combine and Ram Vilas Paswan is the messiah of Muslims and Dalits in Bihar.
"We are one in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We will not contest any seat in Bihar and Lalu and Paswan, who wanted to put up a candidate for Fatehpur, have decided against it. I thank Ajay Singh for not contesting from Fatehpur," said Amar Singh.
"Samajwadi Party, LJSP and RJD have come together and want to emerge as an alternative. We want to defeat communal forces in both the states," said Ram Vilas Paswan.
The group hopes to play a key role in the 120 seats of UP and Bihar but it is Nitish who is keeping everyone guessing.
For the past few days Congress has been appealing to him to leave the NDA and join the secular front.
The move, believed to be the brainchild of Rahul Gandhi, is not finding any support from Nitish at least till now.
"Like Naveen Patnaik... Nitish Kumar, JD (U) and Sharad Yadav must do some introspection on their support to the BJP," said Congress leader Digvijay Singh.
However, Nitish remarked, "The NDA is in power in Bihar. We are working together and there is no question of thinking about the Congress."
With elections dates approaching old animosities are being converted into new political friendships. It also gives a message that none of the parties are quite sure of their own individual strengths. So it is better to do a block deal amongst each other rather than concede anything to the Opposition.
But the going for Congress seems to be getting tougher as it has been losing partners all over India.
Congress' tie-up with Mulayam Singh Yadav in UP has fallen apart while in Bihar Lalu and Paswan have joined hands.
In Jharkhand, the tie-up with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) almost broke, before the Congress stitched it together where in Maharashtra, the Congress had trouble finalising seat sharing with the Nationalist Congress Party.
Meanwhile, in the North-East NCP leader PA Sangma has already split from the UPA.
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