In fact, the TDP chief should copyright the moniker ‘Alliance Naidu’. Alliances are making marriages possible and turning strange bedfellows into familiar partners. It isn’t easy, but Chandrababu Naidu is expert at both – marriage and politics. He started off as a Congress politician but got married into the NTR family and soon the Telugu Desam Party was his ‘dowry’.

Then, in the tumultuous 1990s, he became alliance Guru and succeeded in helping put IK Gujral in the prime minister’s chair. He continues to have the cement and the glue, the sticker that says, ‘Alliances Anybody? Come Here’. A great slogan even if it sounds like a terrible statement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ to unseat Modi is a work in progress. The feeling is ‘will it ever be get done?’ It’s already too late in the day. What’s called for is a blitzkrieg – a flash war! A pumping of fists and a combination to take the wrecking ball to the tyrant citadel’s gate. Naidu knows what lies behind that high wall and perhaps also has the instincts to turn knowledge to advantage.

But, first, he has to get the disparate forces together. The problem is the spare key to the citadel is in 24 Akbar Road. Residents there come draped in arrogance. It is hard to reach out to them. But Naidu, like the cunning lobo, nibbles from the extremities to get at the eye. He meets Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah before he even crosses the road to shake hands with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The meetings with Pawar and Abdullah went well. They know him and he knows them. It was pleasant, the setting to make the next setting perfect. So, finally, when Naidu in safari met Rahul Gandhi in kurta-pyjama, it was easier to get the tie right, plan a necktie party for Modi & Shah. The ice was broken and the tossing crème de la crème will all hopefully come together in a delicious glob at the top of the ice-cream cone to wean away votes from Modi & Shah LLC.

With ambitions and egos at play, Naidu is no threat for the PM-aspirants in the opposition – Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mayawati and Mamata. The ladies are not Rahul-friendly, and Pawar is probably still ‘uncle’ to Rahul. Naidu, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind ‘Prime Minister Whomsoever’ so long as he remains satrap of Andhra Pradesh and Jagan Reddy stays also-ran with a nick on his neck and a chip on his shoulder.

Naidu doesn’t care which lion (or lioness) gets the pride. Son Lokesh Naidu is next in line and Naidu has other chestnuts in the fire. Pawar and Abdullah have “authorized” Naidu to forge an opposition alliance with the common minimum programme to evict Modi from his citadel and leave Amit Shah with no place to go, actualize the ‘Tadipar-tag’ given to him by the twitteratti.

It’s a tall task but Naidu can do it. The man has the ear of almost every opposition party leader. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP head Arvind Kejriwal is convinced. Tamil actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan is a huge fan. Kerala chief minister and CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan is impressed. Mamata Banerjee understands. Mayawati does not shy away when Naidu approaches. Loktantrik Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav is in the bag. Lalu Yadav will not lag.

Naidu never could get along with Modi despite being in the NDA. Naidu was at the Davos World Economic Forum when Modi made his keynote address a mishmash with Pakoda and Samosa. Naidu made a statement in his safari suit in the extreme Davos chill. And soon after Davos, Naidu dumped NDA and has since then been his own man.

But like they say, ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man.’ And so, Modi and Shah are up against a known quantity and whatever is known of the quantity is of quality! The grey in the goatee is not because of the sun. The BJP might still harbour hopes to be first past the post 272+ times but they’re up against a midfield player with powerful knowledge of forging team spirit, not to speak of adjusting to shifting goalposts. Chandrababu Naidu might well be the Mahagathbandhan’s MVP – Most Valuable Player! (IPA Service)