NEW DELHI: The Ajit Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party along with the Shinde group of Shiv Sena are likely to attend the meeting of National Democratic Alliance convened here on July 18 amid strong indications that BJP’s talks with Chirag Paswan for his return to the fold have made “satisfactory progress”.
Ahead of polls, BJP decides to take Chirag back into NDA
The participation of Ajit Pawar-led NCP, likely to be represented by Rajya Sabha Praful Patel, who was along with Supriya Sule appointed as working president of the party before the split, and the ruling Shiv Sena group in the NDA meeting will place the BJP-led alliance on a firmer footing for the 2024 contest for Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats.
- The BJP leadership has decided to bring Janata Dal (S), Om Prakash Rajbhar’s OBC outfit, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, and Mukesh Sahni of Vikassheel Insan Party into the National Democratic Alliance.
- The party has also decided to take Chirag Paswan back into the NDA, potentially costing his estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, Union minister for food processing, his berth in the ministry.
- Chirag Paswan is the sole legatee of his late father and Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan and the “natural” leader of Dusadhs/Paswans, a tightly-knit political community in Bihar.
- Chirag’s return represents BJP’s attempt to engineer a rainbow coalition of upper castes, non-Yadav and non-Kurmi OBCs, and Dalits ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
- The BJP is also in discussion with two of its former allies ★Telugu Desam Party and Shiromani Akali Dal.
- The party’s expansion of the NDA, at a time when opposition parties are struggling to form a front, is aimed at enhancing its image in the battle of perception.
- PM Narendra Modi had emphasized the need to strengthen and expand the NDA in May.
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