The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has nearly 30 parties in its fold, out of which the BJP is the only national party. As of June 2020, the NDA has 336 in Lok Sabha (out of which 303 of BJP) only and 117 seats in the Rajya Sabha. With 87 seats in the Rajya Sabha of BJP only, the BJP is the largest NDA party in the parliament.
Since the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019, no cabinet reshuffle has taken place even though the speculations were high when Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP after quitting the Congress in March this year. In political circles there were many a time when people expected a reshuffle in the Cabinet but it looks it will not happen before the ensuing Bihar State Assembly elections.
Also, the Shiromani Akali Dal quit the NDA last month over the issue of farm bills with an eye on Punjab Assembly elections due in 2022. It is the third major party to walk out of the NDA in the recent past after Shiv Sena which quit in November last year and the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) in 2018. The Shiv Sena severed ties with the NDA last year following differences with the BJP over sharing the chief ministerial post in Maharashtra on a rotational basis.
Arvind Sawant of Shiv Sena, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of SAD and Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP were representatives of NDA allies in the Union Cabinet when the Modi 2.0 government returned to power in 2019 following Lok Sabha elections.
In yet another development the new list of national office bearers which was announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party Chief JP Nadda recently left out several senior leaders like Ram Madhav, Anil Jain, Saroj Pandey and P Muralidhar Rao, Uma Bharati, Om Mathur, Prabhat Jha, Vinay Sahastrabhuddhe, Shyam Jaju and Avinash Rai Khanna from the list. Speculation is rife that it is imminent that the Union cabinet reshuffle is on the cards after the Bihar polls and some of these leaders may be included in the Cabinet.
BJP sources have revealed to the media that leaders from several key states like West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are expected to be accommodated in the expansion as the BJP aims to grow in these states in the future. It is also likely that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also rejig the portfolios of several of his ministers. Currently, several ministers have been burdened with multiple portfolios.
The recent unexpected meeting of Devendra Fadnavis of BJP and Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena has created another furore in the political circles with an expectation that Shiv Sena might return to the NDA fold after its public backlash on three issues. The Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra has faced a vicious attack in the social media over handling of Covid-19, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kangana Ranaut case.
In fact, RPI leader from Maharashtra and Union Cabinet Minister Ramdas Athawale had advised Shiv Sena to join hands with BJP once again. At the same time, he also advised Sena’s ally and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) member Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to ditch Sena and join the NDA, claiming that Pawar will be given a ‘plum cabinet post’. Athawale’s comments come amid the exit of Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP’s longest ally.
For Modi 2.0 even though he has strong numbers in Parliament, it will not be easy to manoeuvre his team as there are State Assembly elections and the Maha Agadhi government in Maharashtra is on a sticky wicket. There are several issues which will play on the mind of Modi to keep his flock of allies together till the next general elections as the Opposition will want desperately to break the NDA to make themselves politically relevant. With the economy suffering due to Covid-19 pandemic, Modi cannot ignore to have a better team which performs at this stage of crisis.
