E-Paper
As Cong nears 100 seats, Kharge makes overtures to NDA parties, works the phone
Congress is reaching out to leaders outside NDA, including TDP, JD(U), BJD, and LJP, to strengthen its position in the Lok Sabha.
With the Congress getting close to 100 seats in the Lok Sabha and the INDIA alliance narrowing the gap between the government and the Opposition with a difference of just 50-odd seats, India’s grand old party has started making overtures to those outside the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) grouping and even those within. From Eknath Shinde to Chandrababu Naidu, the outreach to leaders is taking place behind the scenes, said people aware of the matter.
HT has learnt that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has reached out to Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), apart from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), or LJP, led by Chirag Paswan.
With leads in 15 seats in the Bihar chief minister’s party has surprised all poll watchers, retaining a maximum of the seats and also their voter base of the extremely backward castes (EBCs) along with Kurmi votes. Even as there was concern about Kumar’s health, the JD(U) has outshone their allies the BJP, which only managed 13 seats in the eastern state.
However, a senior JD(U) leader told HT that the party is unlikely to shift loyalties. Still, one Congress leader pointed out that Kumar did not meet the BJP deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary, who went to visit him on Tuesday.
To be sure, Kumar was the leading force behind the INDIA bloc before he switched back to the NDA this year.
The Congress, said the people cited above, hopes they are able to also convince Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, whose Shiv Sena was leading in 10 seats, to come back to their parent group. The INDIA bloc hopes to convince him of their ability to perform well together, especially in the upcoming assembly elections. The party’s top leadership has spoken to Uddhav Thackeray and although the campaign saw bitter attacks exchanged on both sides, the Opposition alliance is hopeful of a positive outcome.
Officially, Patnaik has been equidistant with both BJP and Congress, but HT has learnt that the BJD has sought the Congress’s help in the assembly to bolster their chances. The Congress has bolstered its count in the state assembly to 16 from the nine it held in 2019.
“The Congress will see a major revival in the state,’’ said a former BJD MP, commenting on the virtual wipeout of the party in the state, winning only a single seat.
