BJP says 38 parties support NDA as 26 opposition parties meet in Bengaluru

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 17, 2023: The BJP’s mega show of strength in Delhi -- to be conducted parallelly with the Opposition’s unity meet in Bengaluru -- will be attended by 38 parties, party chief JP Nadda announced today. Though most of the 38 are smaller allies with pockets of influence and a few or no MPs, the figure far outstrips the 26-party tally announced earlier by the Congress -- a psychological advantage the ruling party hopes to deploy in the run-up to next year’s general elections. 

 

Addressing the media this evening, BJP chief JP Nadda said the NDA’s reach and scope has increased over the years.

"The growing desire of the people to push the agenda of development has led to the expansion of the NDA... Good governance given in the last nine years under the leadership of Modi-ji... It is a continuous process," he told reporters.

The BJP’s outreach to allies had come late in the day -- weeks after the opposition held its first unity meet in Patna in June. The opposition has jeered that its unity move -- modelled after the JP movement of 1970s -- has had the BJP jarred.  

The BJP, though, has been moving in a planned manner. Most of its push has been in Bihar, where Nitish Kumar had mopped up the board when he parted company with the NDA, leaving only the fractured Lok Janshakti Party to the BJP. The BJP is now attempting to effect a reconciliation between Chirag Paswan and its uncle, which will give it access to the six per cent Paswan votes.  

Three more parties from Bihar -- Upendra Singh Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, and Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha -- are expected to join the NDA.

In Uttar Pradesh, the mammoth 80-seat state where the BJP is already extremely strong, the party has added one more ally -- the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party of Om Prakash Rajbhar -- with what many feel is the hope to offset the losses in Bihar.

While the key allies - AIADMK and Tamil Manila Congress in Tamil Nadu and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP in Maharashtra --are expected to keep the seat count up in the two major states, the BJP has also kept close its allies in the northeast.   

Seven parties that helps the BJP govern the seven northeastern states -- NPP (National People’s Party Meghalaya), NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party), SKM (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha), MNF (Mizo National Front), ITFT (Tripura), BPP (Bodo People’s party) and AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) -- are on the list.

There are a few new entrants also. Besides the ones in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has drawn actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jansena and the faction of Kerala Congress led by Kerala Congress (Thomas). The latter had quit the NDA in 2021 alleging trouble in seat sharing, but has since refreshed the alliance.  

The list overall makes clear the party’s trajectory. Already strong in most northern states, the BJP has been sticking to its plan of beefing up in the south, west and northeast. In crucial states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, it is only seeking to extend its footprint by patching in parties that have influence among backward classes and Scheduled Castes and Tribes.