The opposition alliance that aimed to oust Modi appears to be cracking just before India’s elections

NEW DELHI (AP) — Last year more than two dozen opposition parties in India came together to take on Narendra Modi, one of the country’s most popular prime ministers in generations. But the broad alliance, beset with ideological differences and personality clashes, is cracking at a crucial time, just months before the country votes in a national election.

Riven by rivalries, political defections and ideological clashes, the INDIA alliance, formed to unseat Modi and defeat his Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral juggernaut, is in shambles, analysts say. Meanwhile, support for Modi is on the rise after he opened a Hindu temple in northern Ayodhya city last month, fulfilling his party’s long-held Hindu nationalist pledge.

Led by the Indian National Congress party that once dominated the country’s politics, the unity front includes over two dozen powerful regional parties that are direct rivals to each other in some states. Their differences have only grown sharper as the election approaches, bolstering Modi’s shot at securing a third consecutive term.

“The opposition is in disarray. They’re looking very weak and not at all cohesive,” said Arati Jerath, a political commentator.

Analysts say talks on seat-sharing within the alliance have gone cold, in part due to the Congress party’s demands of fielding its own candidates in a majority of the seats, even in states where it is weak. This triggered two of the alliance’s key partners in West Bengal and Punjab states to say they would contest seats there alone.

India has a first-past-the-post multiparty electoral system in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins. In 2019, Modi’s party received 37% of the votes, but won 303 of the 543 seats. The opposition is hoping to