Amid Opposition Unity Meets, NDA Allies To Come Together On July 18; SAD, TDP, JD(S) Likely To Attend

The newly appointed Punjab BJP chief, Sunil Jakhar, after meeting the party's National President J.P. Nadda on Wednesday, said that the BJP has suffered a lot due to the limitation of seats because of the alliance with the Akali Dal.

NEW DELHI: Amidst the Opposition's efforts to carve a strong and united front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the ruling BJP has also geared up to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The BJP has called a meeting of NDA constituents on July 18 in New Delhi to ensure better coordination among the allies during the monsoon session of Parliament, which will commence on July 20.

It is being said that the positive result of the BJP's search for new allies would be visible in the coming days and BJP's old allies like the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) may also attend the NDA meeting. Further, it is speculated that the JD(S) from Karnataka would also join the NDA meeting.

Even, there are speculations in political circles that Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) may again join the NDA. However, while answering a query regarding the possibilities of Nitish Kumar's return to NDA, former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday clarified the party's stand and said that Amit Shah has clearly announced 3-4 times that the BJP will not forge an alliance with Nitish Kumar now.

On the issue of the return of the Akali Dal, several BJP leaders, from Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to Vijay Rupani, have repeatedly claimed that the party will contest the Lok Sabha elections alone in Punjab. The newly appointed Punjab BJP chief, Sunil Jakhar, after meeting the party's National President J.P. Nadda on Wednesday, said that the BJP has suffered a lot due to the limitation of seats because of the alliance with the Akali Dal.

Jakhar further said that he has been given the responsibility to strengthen the party on all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab. Right now, the condition of Akali Dal is poor and the BJP is now in a position to take the role of elder brother in Punjab. On the other hand, amidst efforts to bring TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu back to the NDA, the BJP has recently made its intentions clear by appointing former Union Minister D. Purandeshwari as the state President of Andhra Pradesh and G. Kishan Reddy as the party's chief in Telangana.

According to sources in the BJP, the party definitely wants to expand its alliance and all political parties who want to join hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country's "development journey" are welcome. Jitan Ram Manjhi's party HAM and Ajit Pawar's NCP have come together with BJP in recent times and in future, many other political parties may also join hands with it, they said.

The BJP has decided to go alone in the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. However, alliances with smaller parties would be considered in Bihar. On the same lines, if any political party agrees to give the elder brother's role to the BJP, then it would be welcomed to join the alliance, sources added. The reference is clearly to the Akali Dal and TDP. Despite publicly declaring to fight alone, the back door round of talks is on with these parties.