NewDelhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is wrestling with a worsening state of internal discord as five coalition partners are very blunt in expressing their discontent with the leadership of the BJP, notwithstanding their victories in recent elections.
In Uttar Pradesh, two leading ministers from the allied political parties have gone ahead and filed a case against the BJP-led government. Ashish Patel, a minister from Apna Dal (Sonelal), has launched a full-scale offensive against state bureaucrats for interfering in the appointments of engineering colleges. His party, which has one Lok Sabha and nine assembly seats, is a key player in the state’s 6% Kurmi voter base.
BJP has had a bigger headache this time as Sanjay Nishad, who is also a minister in UP and heads the Nishad Party, threatened that the party might face electoral consequences in the 2027 elections if they continue to “ignore” the Nishad community. He has also come forward in a TV show and criticised the BJP for bringing in people who previously “sank” the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
Amidst all these troubles, the alliance’s stability faces yet another challenge in Bihar, where CM JD(U) of Nitish Kumar, which is the third largest NDA partner with 12 Lok Sabha and 4 Rajya Sabha seats, is giving out the signs of discontent. Speculations fly in the political sphere concerning Kumar’s possible shift in party lines, but the party leaders choose to remain reticent on this matter.
Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the AJSU Party has made its dissatisfaction public, and this came after the assembly election results were not what the party expected. After being allocated 10 seats, AJSU was able to secure only one win, thus leading to criticism by the public against the BJP’s coalition management.
These incidents are happening at a time when the NDA is in dire need of legislative management, as it holds the government with 293 seats in Lok Sabha and requires all the political parties in the alliance to be kept in a favourable position to maintain stability. The BJP’s success in dealing with these rising concerns could either make or break the coalition, especially with the elections in Delhi and Bihar looming large.
The happenings are more precarious as the internal conflicts appear as the NDA’s booming and blockade-electoral successes, hinting that there are deeper structural issues within the alliance that, if they remain unchecked, can affect its long-term stability.