2 coalition-era veterans emerge kingmakers as BJP falls short of majority
The Election Commission of India on Tuesday declared results for all the 543 Lok Sabha seats.
That went to the polls from April 19 to June 1, which showed BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fell short of expectations in the face of a surprisingly strong show by the Opposition INDIA bloc.
The BJP secured 240 seats, falling short of the majority mark of 272, while the Congress won 99.
As the BJP fell short of a majority in the Lok Sabha, needing NDA allies to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu emerged as potential kingmakers.
Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) won 16 Lok Sabha seats while Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), won 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively, the election commission data showed.
With 28 seats between them, N. Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar hold the balance of the BJP-led National Democratic alliance (NDA) in their hands. Both parties have re-pledged their allegiance to the NDA and will be present at the alliance’s meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
2 COALITION-ERA VETERANS EMERGE KINGMAKERS
Nitish Kumar’s relationship with the BJP goes back to the mid-1990s when he had collaborated with veteran socialist leader late George Fernandes to float the Samata Party, as a revolt against Lalu Prasad, the then chief minister of Bihar, who had acquired an overbearing presence in the Janata Dal founded by former prime minister V P Singh, according to PTI.
The alliance with BJP, which ruled the country from 1998 to 2004, also provided much-needed exposure to Kumar, who held key portfolios like agriculture, railways and surface transport in the cabinet of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
It was in 2005 that Nitish Kumar’s party, now known as JD(U), was formed after the merger of the Samata Party with yet another rebel Janata faction headed by late Sharad Yadav.
The JD(U)-BJP combine won the assembly polls, and Nitish Kumar became the chief minister, a post held by Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi for 15 years.
Coming back to today’s scenario, Nitish’s party, amid flip-flop-flip situation, has emerged as the single-largest entity in Bihar despite contesting only 16 seats, despite the other two big parties, RJD and BJP, having fielded more candidates.
Meanwhile, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP also put up a good show in the Lok Sabha polls, winning 16 of the total 25 seats in the state, with allies BJP and Janasena Party ahead in three and two constituencies respectively.
Naidu has also emerged as a possible kingmaker, being the second-largest party in the ruling NDA alliance behind the BJP.
On September 9, 2023, he was arrested in the skill development scam case by the YSRCP government, the lowest point in his political career. Naidu spent nearly two months in the Rajamahendravaram central jail.
However, an interim bail on October 31, which was made absolute on November 20, set Naidu free to prepare for the 2024 polls, enabling him to join the BJP-led NDA alliance along with Janasena.