The BJP yesterday ruled out any post-electoral alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party to form a government. Claiming that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would get a comfortable majority on its own, party president Kushabhau Thakre pointed out that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP had contested against the BJP.
This party line could tie Prime Minister AB Vajpayee's hands in case negotiations are required with Pawar after the results are announced. Many political observers expect Sharad Pawar and Mulayam Singh Yadav to negotiate with brokers of both the NDA and the Congress in case another hung house comes into being.
Recent reports from UP suggest that this is now a possibility. Meanwhile, senior leaders of the erstwhile Third Front, including Mulayam Singh an