This month, the Narendra Modi government marks its ninth anniversary and plans to celebrate it with customary fanfare. There's silence so far on either the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or any of its current allies marking the anniversary of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Formally launched on May 15, 1998, the NDA completes 25 years on Monday, but the initial gusto of the BJP leadership towards allies in the aftermath of the 2014 win is missing now.
Saturday's Karnataka assembly election results, and that of the bypolls, were a timely reminder to the BJP of the continued relevance of the NDA, felt a BJP leader from the south. For hours after the Hindutva party's comprehensive loss in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said southern India is now "BJP mukt".
Saturday's Karnataka assembly election results, and that of the bypolls, were a timely reminder to the BJP of the continued relevance of the NDA, felt a BJP leader from the south. For hours after the Hindutva party's comprehensive loss in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said southern India is now "BJP mukt".
Will the BJP try to reinvigorate the NDA by reaching out to some of its past allies, especially in the south? The party leadership is yet to respond to N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP)'s feelers, requesting a return to the NDA fold. However, on Sunday, BJP Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao was in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam, where he said anarchy prevailed in Andhra Pradesh under the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government and acknowledged Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan's call not to allow the anti-YSRCP) votes to split.
Rao, alluding to the JSP's alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), said the BJP and JSP are allies, and his party's central leadership would decide on other alliances. The TDP had stormed out of the NDA ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but has lately tried to mend bridges. The Andhra Pradesh assembly polls will take place simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.
In Uttar Pradesh, BJP's ally, Apna Dal (Soneylal), contested and won the two bypolls - Chhanbey in Mirzapur and Suar in Rampur - defeating Samajwadi Party candidates. In Suar, Union minister Anupriya Patel-led party fielded Shafeek Ahmed Ansari, who defeated SP's Anuradha Chauhan on a seat considered a bastion of SP leader Azam Khan and a constituency the BJP, or its allies, had not won in over two decades. Patel credited the win to the people's continued trust in the NDA. A source said since the BJP does not field Muslim candidates in UP, it can use its allies to show the community that its patronage reaches them and presents an inclusive image.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll result was another reminder that the BJP would struggle without its alliance partner, the Shiromani Akali Dal, in Punjab despite such leaders as former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and former Congress state unit chief Sunil Jakhar in its ranks. The BJP candidate secured 134,000 votes, and of the Akalis, 154,000 votes, against the winning Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate's 302,000 votes. A united SAD-BJP could have run the AAP closer.
The NDA is still a 27-party behemoth on paper but a shadow of its earlier federal self. Apart from the BJP, only nine other NDA members have any representation in the Lok Sabha. Several of the NDA's oldest constituents have exited the alliance since 2014, and the attrition has been sharper after 2019. The TDP, SAD and Janata Dal (United) are some of its more significant allies to have parted ways while the AIADMK, an ally, is much enfeebled. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena did so in 2019 until the Eknath Shinde faction returned to the NDA fold.
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The BJP could possibly start looking for new allies or build bridges with older ones close to the Lok Sabha polls. "It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value," said a leader of a party that severed its ties with the BJP in 2020.
