After four phases of polling in Uttar Pradesh, BSP supremo Mayawati’s bold move to accept a pre-poll alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP), appears to be working smoothly. Reports from the ground suggest that the BSP’s core support base of Jatavs has collaborated surprisingly well with the SP’s Yadavs, who were not so long ago seen as oppressors.

Supported in Western UP by a sizeable section of Jats – another previous oppressor of Jatavs – and backed by a consolidated bloc of Muslim voters – this extraordinary coalition of social groups in the country’s most populous and politically crucial state, could halt the mighty Modi juggernaut, and be the game-changer in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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