Tale Of Two Parties (Or Should That Be Four?)

So finally the Congress pulled yet another victory from the jaws of defeat, turning the BJP's demand for a vote completely in its favour and robbing the opposition, yet again, of a chance to put them on the mat. Whatever the means used by the Congress negotiators, they played M&M against each other, turning their brinksmanship into an advantage, extorting exactly what was needed from them. With its almost hypocritical anti-FDI stand, the BJP now runs the risk of distancing itself from the urban middle class, which always looked up to the BJP as a reformist, forward thinking party. With the FDI story successfully behind it, the government will now feel emboldened to push the agenda for further reforms, just in time for the 2014 battle. With regional parties like the TMC, AAIDMK and DMK playing almost no role in FDI saga, has the BJP handed the Congress yet another timely shove?