The NDA meeting will be chaired by BJP President JP Nadda and PM Modi. (file)
The country is next week set to witness a high voltage political showdown, with the ruling NDA and Opposition parties both flexing numbers ahead of next year's general elections. While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has announced a mega meet in New Delhi on Tuesday, expecting nearly 30 parties to reiterate support to the alliance, 24 Opposition parties will also meet in Bengaluru on Monday and Tuesday to iron out their differences and project a united front against the BJP ahead of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament which starts on July 20.
The NDA meeting will be chaired by BJP President JP Nadda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other than their alliance partners, the BJP has also invited several new allies and some former ones to the meet, which will take place at Delhi's Ashok Hotel on Tuesday evening. Not all parties in the NDA have a presence in the Parliament.
Four leaders from Bihar -- Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha, Upendra Singh Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, and Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party -- have been invited, and their parties will be included in the NDA.
Former Akhilesh Yadav ally Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, earlier today announced re-joining the NDA, and Dara Singh Chauhan, Samajwadi Party MLA from Ghosi in Mau district, yesterday resigned from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and joined the BJP after meeting Home Minister Amit Shah.
N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party and the Badal family-helmed Shiromani Akali Dal, even after much speculation, will not be part of the NDA. Sources say the BJP will not ally with these parties. It plans to go solo in Punjab and ally with Pawan Kalyan's JanaSena Party in Andhra Pradesh.
NDA currently boasts 24 parties -- BJP, AIADMK, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), NPP (National People's Party), NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party), SKM (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha), JJP (Jannayak Janta Party), IMKMK (Indiya Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhgam), AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Union), RPI (Republic Party of India), MNF (Mizo National Front), TMC (Tamil Manila Congress), IPFT (Tripura), BPP (Bodo People's party), PMK (Patali Makkal Kacchi), MGP (Mahasthravadi Gomantak Party), Apna Dal, AGP (Assam Gana Parishad), Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, Nishad Party, UPPL (United People's Party Liberal), AIRNC (All India NR Congress Pudduchery), Shiromani Akali Dal Sayunkt (Dhindhsa), and JanaSena (Pawan Kalyan).
NCP (Nationalist Congress Party Ajit Pawar faction), Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas), HAM (Hindustani Awam Morcha), RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party), VIP (Vikassheel Insaan Party), and SBSP (Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party Om Prakash Rajbhar) will be the new entrants to the ruling alliance.
The Congress today, sfter weeks of dithering, came out in support of the Aam Aadmi Party's campaign against the contentious central order that wrested back control of Delhi's bureaucracy, boosting the prospects of an opposition meeting set to be held a day later.