38 parties confirm participation in NDA meet: BJP chief J P Nadda

The BJP has been trying to bring its traditional allies back into the NDA fold.

In an apparent bid to counter the opposition’s grand unity efforts both in terms of optics and numbers, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will on Tuesday host a meeting of existing and new NDA allies in Delhi for which invitations have been extended to 38 parties. The NDA meeting coincides with the second plenary of the opposition outfits in Bangalore being attended by leaders from 26 political outfits.

“38 parties have confirmed their participation in the NDA meeting. In the last nine years, the reach and scope of the NDA has increased; in the pursuit of our developmental agenda in the Indian polity, the NDA has become popular among the voters as well as parties,” Nadda said.

The resolution is also likely to be adopted at the end of Tuesday’s deliberations at Hotel Ashoka.

Having lost many traditional allies in the last nine years including Telugu Desam Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Janata Dal (United), and the Shiv Sena, the BJP has in the last one month mounted a concerted effort to bring on board many regional and sub-regional parties to stitch an alternative narrative.

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Leaders from Bihar who have been invited to the meeting include former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, Chirag Paswan, his uncle Paras Paswan, and Upendra Kushwaha.

In UP, Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party has also returned to the BJP-led coalition. The biggest catch for the BJP, however, has been the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Ajit Pawar who rebelled against his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra last month. Both Shinde and Ajit Pawar are expected to participate in Tuesday’s deliberations to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hotel Ashoka in Delhi.

Accusing the opposition leaders of ganging up against the Modi government, Nadda said that the opposition meeting in Bangalore was “a photo opportunity aimed to save its leaders from the Rs 20 lakh crore worth of corruption cases.”

“They don’t have either a neta (leader), or neeyat (intent) or the need (strategy) to win 2024 elections,” Nadda added.

The BJP president denied allegations that the center was unleashing central agencies on Opposition leaders for political purposes. “The law will take its due course. No court has said that we’ve misused the agencies.”; Nadda said.

Apart from the line-up, the BJP has also been in talks with Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka, TDP in Andhra, and SAD in Punjab.