Pegasus focus might let BJP run away with UP polls

The Opposition needs to rethink its strategy. Just as the Rafale scandal did not sway voters earlier, Pegasus may not either.

Have the Opposition parties taken their eye off the ball in Uttar Pradesh (UP)? While the intrusive use of Pegasus spyware has seriously damaged India’s democratic institutions, exclusive focus on it may prove counter-productive. Public attention must be brought back to areas where the BJP government has failed resoundingly--managing the Covid-19 pandemic, the precipitous slide in the economy, increasing unemployment and growing hunger. The failure is most vivid in UP which goes to polls next February.

While the Opposition’s poll strategy for UP is unclear, the BJP’s reliance is on a coalition of the upper castes, non-Yadav OBCs and the