According to sources, a major meeting of the NDA is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 18 July, at Hotel Ashoka in Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has invited several former allies who distanced themselves from the party to attend the meeting. In the coming months, five states will go to polls for the Legislative Assembly elections while the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled for next year.
The BJP will want to replicate its previous performance in the upcoming elections and has therefore reached out in order to reunite with its former allies. The party gained a spectacular victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, winning 26 seats in Gujarat, all 10 seats in Haryana, all four seats in Himachal Pradesh, all seven seats in Delhi, 24 of 25 seats in Rajasthan—one seat was won by a BJP ally. In Tripura, the BJP won two seats as well as five seats in Uttarakhand and both seats in Arunachal Pradesh. The party also emerged victorious in Bihar, winning 17 out of 40 seats, and 9 of 11 seats in Chhattisgarh, winning 9 out of 11 seats. In Jammu and Kashmir, BJP won three out of six seats, 11 out of 14 seats in Jharkhand, 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka, 28 of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 23 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra, eight out of 21 seats in Odisha, and 62 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. The party also recorded a significant victory, winning 18 out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
Over the past few years, several of the BJP’s associates distanced themselves from the party. However, considering the upcoming elections, the has begun a dialogue with parties that were allied with it in different states. The results of these discussions will be made clear soon.
The national president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) from Uttar Pradesh, Om Prakash Rajbhar, met with BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Tuesday. Sources say Rajbhar is one of the many leaders invited to the 18 July meeting. BJP leaders are reportedly in talks with Jayant Chaudhary as well. Due to the growing distance with Akhilesh Yadav, Chaudhary seems to have limited options in UP, so there is a possibility of him joining with the BJP.
In Punjab, the party is in talks with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Previously, the BJP and the Akali Dal were alliance partners. The party is also looking to join hands with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh. A recent meeting between TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has further strengthened this possibility. This was their first meeting after 2018. In Bihar, BJP might look to join hands with Chirag Paswan to secure his Lok Janshakti Party’s 6 percent votes. Discussions have also taken place with Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha in Bihar. It seems that if the BJP succeeds in forming alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, it will be successful in creating history with a clean sweep in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
