What is important is that the seat-sharing deal should now put a stop to bickering that the opposition parties had fallen short of their alliance moniker – INDI-Alliance. In Uttar Pradesh, at least, even with Congress and Samajwadi Party rebels in the fray, there will be one INDI-Alliance candidate against one BJP candidate in all the 80 Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Samajwadi Party will contest from 63 seats and the Congress from 17. One Congress candidate against one BJP candidate in 17 constituencies as per the Congress-SP INDI-Alliance seat-sharing deal, and one Samajwadi Party candidate against one BJP candidate as part of the same INDI-Alliance seat-sharing formula in 63 constituencies.

The contests will be bang one-on-one. Not out of pique, mischief or plain challenge, but because that's the deal – consolidate opposition votes behind a single opposition candidate in each Lok Sabha constituency. Fact is, even after this, opposition unity has not been fully achieved with the formation of the INDI-Alliance.

For example, the Bahujan Samaj Party is not in the INDI-Alliance. And last heard, the BSP will fight all the 80 UP Lok Sabha seats. Behan Mayawati's grudges are not easy to crack. Meaning the opposition INDI-Alliance is not watertight when it comes to leaking opposition votes. The deal between the Congress and Samajwadi Party may not have its intended impact but it will help achieve a modicum of opposition parties’ votes getting solidified.

At the same time, let's not forget that there is more to politics and elections than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his speaking prowess. Something like “India Shining” does not come with the question “May I?”. “India Shining” may be round the corner with a basket of electoral upsets. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not above biting dust, right?

Then again, are the 17 UP Lok Sabha seats given to the Congress those that it had sought, or would have sought in a world where it called the shots? The fact is, the Samajwadi Party has been behaving like lord and master of Uttar Pradesh and can do whatever with whichever constituency. The Congress must have wanted to contest from Varanasi but can any party or any politician hope to defeat Narendra Modi in Varanasi after two terms of being the Pradhan Mantri’s constituency? Also, will the politician who beats Modi in Varanasi become the next Prime Minister of India and therefore be voted to power?

So, why waste a “seat” to seal a seat-sharing deal. Apparently, there were seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party and the Congress took what it was talked into taking. That the Samajwadi Party took the 63 remaining Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh was okay for the Congress as the final offer of 17 compared well with the earlier offer of 11. Apart from Varanasi, Rae Bareily, Amethi, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, and Mathura are also in the Congress kitty to win or lose.

But are any of the 17 constituencies Congress strongholds? Think Amethi and think Rae Bareily? Most likely, all the 17 are lost case causes. Observers of political upheavals, however, say the Congress-SP seat-sharing deal is the “biggest positive news” for the Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance, deemed necessary after the string of depressing reports of opposition leaders deserting their parties for greener pastures in the Bharatiya Janata Party.

So, when Akhilesh Yadav said in Moradabad that “all is well that ends well” it was like all the pieces had fallen in place. All that the Congress now has to do is pick up 17 winning candidates including the ones capable of trouncing BJP candidates in Varanasi, Amethi and Rae Bareily. Should max marks go to the Australia-educated Akhilesh Yadav for the Congress-Samajwadi Party seat-sharing deal as the UK-educated Rahul Gandhi is not in the habit of getting into working things out? Whoever gets the kudos, if even after this, the Congress manages to screw up, then it’s nobody’s fault.

The INDI-Alliance should consider itself lucky for the breakthroughs including the Chandigarh mayoral election fiasco and the success in working out a seat-sharing deal between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. If "Chandigarh" put the BJP in the doghouse, the seat-sharing achievement paves the way for the INDI-Alliance to take the battle head-on into some of the choice BJP strongholds. (IPA Service)