Debate: Who Will Be the Kingmaker in Case of a Hung Parliament?

(Photo: Screengrab)

The exit polls on Sunday, 19 May predicted a clear victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA. However, if the exit polls are wrong, will PM Modi need outside support? Who will be the kingmaker in case of a hung parliament?

Out of all opposition leaders, BSP chief Mayawati, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu, and Mamata Banerjee are being seen as the front runners to be the possible king makers after the results are out on 23 May.

BloombergQuint talks to RK Radhakrishnan, Editor for Frontline magazine, Tathagata Satpathy, founder of Odisha Post and Political Analyst, Krishna Prasad.

Political analyst Krishna Prasad says that the biggest bet is that the Opposition parties can have is that the exit polls turn out to be wrong.

“They are being held up by hope and the fact that there are so many question marks about the exit polls. I think that is the key factor.”

Another factor uniting all these parties is the collective urge to see the end of Mr Narendra Modi, according to Krishna Prasad.

A lot of the Opposition’s efforts are dedicated on how the SP-BSP alliance performs in Uttar Pradesh.

Prasad says that from what can be seen on the ground, the Mahagathbandhan has worked quite well. He also pointed out the two developments - the CBI deciding to close the Bofors investigation and the withdrawal of a disproportionate assets case against Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav.

On Chandrababu Naidu’s efforts, RK Radhakrishan said that the TDP chief only wants the upper hand over YSR Reddy and K Chandrashekar Rao.

“Its just three people in a very small pond trying to act like national leaders.”

RK Radhakrishnan, Editor, Frontline

Radhakrishnan said that it will eventually come down to what Naidu brings to the table.