India, Nov. 15 -- Sometime this autumn, it appeared that the Opposition's Grand Alliance was peaking at the right time. Out on a joint yatra to protest the controversial special intensive revision of electoral rolls, Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav appeared to complement each other's campaign styles and drew huge crowds. At one rally, Yadav called Gandhi his big brother who had to be made Prime Minister, at another, they walked side by side, grinning, and at a third, both rode a jeep together, with Yadav in the driver's seat. The hope was the camaraderie would give extra fuel to the alliance that had fallen tantalisingly short - a mere 13,000-odd votes separated the two coalitions - five years ago.

Five weeks before the elections, it all...