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NDA gets a boost, INDIA suffers setback ahead of Lok Sabha battle
Only two days ahead of the Rajya Sabha poll, INDIA bloc allies SP and Congress appeared in a buoyant mood at a joint rally in Agra during the Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on February 25.
The victory of all its eight candidates in the Rajya Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh has come as a major boost for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) while cross-voting by the Samajwadi Party is a setback for the SP-led INDIA alliance before the Lok Sabha election.
Only two days ahead of the Rajya Sabha poll, INDIA bloc allies SP and Congress appeared in a buoyant mood at a joint rally in Agra during the Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on February 25. Within 48 hours, the INDA bloc has been rattled by rebellion of seven SP MLAs who voted in support of the BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha election and one abstained.
The NDA worked like a well-oiled machine, ensuring its partners stood firmly with the alliance despite the SP bid to win the support of RLD and SBSP MLAs.
The BJP also exposed chinks in the INDIA ranks by carrying out “Operation Lotus”, winning the support of the seven SP MLAs.
The BJP was also able to send a message to the voters that INDIA bloc was a divided house as SP chief whip Manoj Pandey and senior party MLAs violated the party chief’s direction to vote for the INDIA bloc candidates.
The cross-voting by the SP MLAs also indicates that the NDA may try to engineer more defection in the INDIA bloc as the Lok Sabha election draws near.
“Before the crucial electoral battle, the NDA has been able to sow the seeds of distrust among the INDIA bloc leaders. Rather than working on the campaign strategy, the SP and Congress leaders are likely to be more busy in keeping their house in order,” said political analyst SK Srivastava.
The much-touted PDA “pichra” ( backward), Dalit and “alpashankhak”( minority) formula of the SP has also been shattered before the Lok Sabha election as the SP MLAs belonging to the upper castes, Dalits and OBCs voted in support of the NDA.
When it became clear that party MLAs had indulged in cross-voting, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X , said, “Our third seat in the Rajya Sabha was actually a test to identify the true comrades and to know who was with the PDA at heart and who was against the backward classes, Dalits and minorities by conscience.”
The results indicate that before the launch of the Lok Sabha election campaign, several SP MLAs dumped PDA to get on the BJP ship.
Before the Rajya Sabha poll, the BJP gave a shock to the INDIA bloc by getting the Rashtriya Lok Dal to its side. It checked the SP plan to win the support of the three members who had contested the 2022 assembly election on the RLD ticket under the alliance formula. The weakening of the INDIA bloc in the Jat dominated area of the West UP boosted the NDA’s morale.
Now, the NDA will go into the Lok Sabha election high on confidence at a time when the BJP has set a target of winning 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
After victory in the Rajya Sabha election, the NDA will be on the offensive to grab maximum seats while the INDIA bloc will be on the defensive to protect its strongholds, said another political analyst AK Mishra.
