Pacts, switches on anvil as BJP eyes 400-mark

To win 370 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats on its own and 400 with allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to include more political parties in the National Democratic Alliance and bring on board leaders from other outfits to increase its tally and convert votes into seats.

To win 370 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats on its own and 400 with allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to include more political parties in the National Democratic Alliance and bring on board leaders from other outfits to increase its tally and convert votes into seats.

Former Congress leader Ashok Chavan (R) joined the BJP recently. (HT file)

The BJP has set its sights on winning 206 seats it did not win in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and has begun an aggressive campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday exhorted party cadre to intensify outreach in the next 100 days to meet the target. It won 272 and 303 seats, respectively, in the previous two general elections.

Negotiations are underway with leaders of several parties, including regional satraps keen to switch sides in the run up to the elections, said a party leader, who is also a member of its joining committee. Depending on the outcome of the parleys on tickets or positions in the party, these leaders are expected to join in the next two weeks before the election schedule is announced, the leader said, declining to be named.

Alliance talks are underway with parties such as the Telegu Desam Party and a clutch of smaller parties in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, while the farmers’ protest has stalled talks with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab.

“Leaders who can bring a substantial number of voters and swing the seat for the BJP are preferred,” the leader said. “There are also some leaders who are well past their prime and may not be suited for elections, but their joining makes for good optics.” He cited the example of former union minister SM Krishna, who quit the Congress to join the BJP in 2017, even though he was not given any position or responsibility in the party.

After Congressman and former Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan joined the BJP last week and was named as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls, there has been talk of more members from the grand old party waiting to switching sides.

On Monday, three Aam Aadmi Party councillors from Haryana -- Poonam Devi, Neha Musavat and Gurcharan Kala -- joined the BJP in the presence of party national general secretary Vinod Tawde. In Rajasthan, four-time MLA Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya quit the Congress to join the BJP.

The BJP is hopeful of breaching the southern states, riding on the goodwill generated by the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple, said another party leader who played a key role in negotiations with a regional party that joined the BJP’s alliance ahead of the 2019 polls .

“While there has been a lot of development in the five southern states, the sentimental connect that people feel with Kashi (Varanasi) and now Ayodhya will see the party’s voter share and seats go up substantially in 2024,” he said, seeking anonymity.

Of the total 129 seats in the five southern states, the BJP won only 29 in 2019. It is, therefore, pursuing individual leaders and smaller parties that have dedicated caste-based vote banks to increase its tally.

“The party will win the seats it lost in Uttar Pradesh and add a few more in Assam, but the scope for growth is in the south, and in Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal,” the second leader said. In 2014, the BJP had won all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, but the number fell to 64 in 2019. In Assam, it won nine of the 14; in West Bengal, it won 18 of the 42 and in Odisha its tally was eight of 21.

To a question on how the BJP leadership will prevent a discord between the party leaders and new entrants who have been given coveted positions such as Chavan and RPN Singh being nominated for the Rajya Sabha, a third leader said the saffron outfit has grown manifold and there was room to accommodate the old and new. “The party has the capacity and the capability to absorb people within the organisation and in the government,” he said, wishing to remain unnamed. “Today, the BJP is in power in 17 states.”

The instruction to party cadre at the moment was to focus on increasing the winning margin in the 248 seats the BJP won in both the previous two general elections, the third leader said.

In 2019, the BJP added 55 seats to its tally that it had not won in the preceding election, but lost 34 it had won earlier in 2014.