Sena, Ajit’s faction may join NDA meet on July 18
As HT reported on June 10, the BJP is attempting to recreate the old NDA in its 25th year anniversary
A new-and-expanded National Democratic Alliance(NDA) will meet next week in Delhi, with at least two of the party’s allies confirming to HT that they had been invited by Union minister Piyush Goyal to attend the meeting in the Capital on July 18, just two days ahead of the start of the monsoon session of Parliament.
This will be the first meeting that is being held of the ruling coalition in the last one year, the previous one being held just before the Presidential elections. HT has reached out to Union minister Piyush Goyal for comment but is yet to receive one. The new members that are expected to attend are the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, perhaps represented by Praful Patel; the Shiv Sena; Chirag Paswan, Lok Sabha member and leader of the Lok Jan Shakti Party (RV); and former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jiten Ram Manjhi along with his son.
“ Both Jiten Ram Manjhi and his son and party national president Santosh Suman will attend the meeting,” said HAM-S spokesperson Amrendra Tripathi. Chirag Paswan had a long meeting with union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai on Sunday and according to LJP (RV) leaders familiar with development, he will be attending the July 18 meeting. Paswan quit the alliance in 2020 ahead of state elections due to differences with then NDA partner and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. With Kumar joining hands with the opposition, Paswan’s return seems imminent.
A spokesperson for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(AIADMK) confirmed that M Thambidurai will attend the meeting. Meghlaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, who heads alliance partner, National People’s Party (NPP) will also attend. “We have not been given a specific agenda for the meeting yet, but the CM will be there in Delhi,’’ said a spokesperson for the CM.
As HT reported on June 10, the BJP is attempting to recreate the old NDA in its 25th year anniversary, with the return of allies such as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD). In all there were 20 constituents in the original NDA of 1998.
But there’s been a delay in finalising the return of the TDP and the SAD. “The TDP is very keen to join but at the moment both they and Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP are feeling favourable towards us,’’ said a BJP functionary from Andhra Pradesh. “There is a view that we should wait to see how we fare in the upcoming assembly elections in December, before making the choice.’’
Elections in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana are due by the end of the year.
The BJP and the SAD are believed to have held several rounds of talks, but are yet to arrive agree on the contours of the partnership, HT learns.
