With BJP Falling Short Of Majority, Alliance Partners Nitish Kumar & Chandrababu Naidu Back In Focus  

New Delhi: Even as the counting of votes continues and final results are yet to come, the trend now indicates ruling BJP will fall short of majority for forming a government on its own. The focus thus shifts to its alliance partners, Nitish Kumar’s JDU and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP.

But both the Bihar Chief Minister and Andhra Pradesh’s to-be Chief Minister have a history of switching alliances.

While agency sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah spoke to Naidu in the afternoon of June 4, there were rumours that NCP chief Sharad Pawar also spoke to Naidu and Kumar. Pawar in a press conference however denied having called them.

JDU is leading in 14 out of 16 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. Though JDU is now in alliance with BJP, the INDIA bloc may try to bring the party into its fold along with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. Given Kumar’s history of changing alliances and his high aspirations, it is difficult to predict which side he will take.

Both JDU and TDP will together have 30 seats.

In Maharastra, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is leading in six seats while Ajit Pawar faction of NCP, which is also a part of NDA, is ahead in 19 seats.

On the other hand, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, which has joined hands with NCP in Maharashtra and is a part of the INDIA bloc is leading in 10 seats and they together will have 40 seats.

While the BJP will have to struggle to please its alliance partners to form the government, the INDIA bloc may try to pull some from the NDA Alliance.

Amid the uncertainty, Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu may not just be the “kingmakers” for now but may also be the “Damocles sword” that would continue to gang over whichever alliance forms the government.