After SAD exit and Ram Vilas Paswan's death, no non-BJP minister in NDA Cabinet now

With the demise of Ram Vilas Paswan, who was the minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution and the exit of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the coalition does not have a minister from an ally in the Union Cabinet any more.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal of SAD had resigned in September in protest over the Centre's farm bills, while about a year ago, Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant had resigned after the Sena decided to quit the NDA and join forces with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to form a government in Maharashtra.

This, according to a Hindustan Times report, is the first time since 1977 that a coalition government at the Centre has all the ministers from a single party. That is not surprising, according to experts, since the BJP had managed to secure a historic majority on its own during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP has, on its part, repeatedly said that the party has always respected the wishes of its allies.

"The NDA and the BJP are driven by national interest, which at times is in variance with local politics that drives the regional parties. The Shiv Sena parted ways even though they contested elections with us in Maharashtra. In Bihar, we have sacrificed on many occasions and have given a lion’s share to our ally, the JD(U). We will always respect the views of our allies but not at the cost of compromising national interest," the party's spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.

Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) has the highest number of Members of Parliament (MPs) at 15 after the BJP in the NDA fold, but it had decided to stay out of the council of ministers after it was not granted its request of two cabinet berths, reports suggest.

"The BJP leadership believes that smaller allies have reaped the benefits of Modi’s popularity but haven’t been able to mobilise their own votes. So the BJP is sidelining them in ministerial appointments, decision-making, which then creates deeper insecurity among these smaller parties," Rahul Verma, fellow at Centre for Policy Research, told the newspaper. According to him, this reflects the changing nature of the NDA.

"The BJP has a transactional understanding of coalition politics; no programmatic agreement, no ideological basis, only whether the relationship is profitable or not. They think allies are needed, or join a coalition only if either has to gain something — if the BJP’s winnability is high, allies will come; and if low, they will not. Since 2014, the NDA has existed in name only," Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a political commentrator, said.