Lok Sabha election 2019 | What the result means for BJP's allies

(Image: Twitter/@AUThackeray)

The incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on May 23 registered a massive victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, to retain power.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance won over 350 Lok Sabha seats. The saffron party itself won over 300 seats — its highest individual tally ever.

BJP’s partners, including their traditional allies such as the Shiv Sena, also put up an impressive electoral performance riding on what is being termed ‘Modi wave 2.0’.

The alliances

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party repeated its 2014 performance by winning 18 seats in Maharashtra.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) won 16 Lok Sabha seats, up from what was two in 2014 when it had fought against NDA.

‘Weather scientist’ Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won all of the six seats it contested in Bihar.

BJP’s other traditional ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), managed to win just two seats in Punjab amid a serious campaign led by Congress’ Amarinder Singh there.

In Uttar Pradesh, BJP ally Apna Dal managed to win two seats despite a challenge from the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ‘Mahagathbandhan’. The party was able to repeat its 2014 performance.

One of BJP’s new allies — the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) — managed to win just one seat in Tamil Nadu.

In Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Nagaland, BJP allies All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Hanuman Beniwal-led Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLD) and Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) won one seat each, respectively. Other allies such as the Mizo National Front (MNF) and National People's Party (NPP) also registered victories.

Sumalatha, an Independent candidate, who was supported by the BJP in Karnataka’s Mandya, was also able to stifle a challenge from Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil.

Together, BJP’s allies were able to clinch 50 seats across the country.

‘They don't need us’

Before the election results were announced, multiple parties were hoping to play ‘kingmakers’ if the NDA fell short. In return, they were hoping to dictate terms and extract lucrative deals for their state. These parties included Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister-designate YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

On May 26, Jagan Mohan admitted that his party could now only request and not "demand or command" the special category status from the Centre.

It would have been a "wonderful moment" for the YSRCP had the NDA won only 250 seats but it got 353 seats in the parliamentary election, he said, adding, "So they don't need us (to form government), they are strong".

Jagan Mohan, whose party won 24 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, had earlier declared that he would support anyone who granted special category status to the state.

Setback for allies?

Many of BJP’s allies would now be in a position similar to YSRCP, political observers suggest. Some of the key allies such as Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal (United) will not be able to arm-twist the Modi government for what they want. They would also not be in a position to dictate terms to the government.

The BJP’s single-party majority status and momentum would also have a bearing on the Assembly elections.

Legislative Assembly elections in Maharashtra, among other states are expected to happen in or around October this year. The BJP could dictate the terms of seat-sharing with the Shiv Sena.

Similarly, the BJP would also want to play a greater role in its alliances with the JD(U) in Bihar.