Explained: BJP’s alliance arithmetic and NDA’s expanding footprint

Again, on February 19 the BJP announced its multi-party alliance in Tamil Nadu. Noteworthy in this is the return of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or the AIADMK, to the NDA stable after five years. S Ramadoss’ Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which has a strong following in north Tamil Nadu, has also returned to the NDA.

The BJP was on the back foot after it lost the three Hindi heartland states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the December elections. Also, owing to differences with the BJP, some parties have left the NDA. Prominent among them are N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP).

Now the tide seems to be changing in favour of the NDA. The NDA in 2014 had between 25-27 parties in it. In 2019, the number of allies has already passed this tally. While much of the focus has been on the Opposition’s grand alliance, the BJP in a quiet manner has gone about expanding the NDA.

If the Lok Sabha poll becomes a clash between two grand alliances, expect the neutral parties such as Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, K Chandrashekar Rao’s TRS and Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress to play a crucial post-poll role.

Watch this video by Viju Cherian to understand the alliance math fully.