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Guwahati, June 5: In a tightly contested Lok Sabha election, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a total of 294 seats, ensuring its position to form the next government.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the primary constituent of the NDA, fell short of an outright majority, securing only 240 seats.
This shortfall necessitates reliance on key allies such as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) JD (U) to surpass the crucial 272-seat threshold required to form the government.
In this scenario, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh emerge as pivotal battlegrounds. Nitish Kumar's JD(U) has secured 12 seats in Bihar, while Chandrababu Naidu's TDP has won 16 in Andhra Pradesh, creating a strategic challenge for the BJP. Both BJP and Congress, are actively courting these regional parties. The decisions made by JD(U) and TDP could ultimately determine the composition and direction of the new government.
The opposition alliance, I.N.D.I.A. bloc, composed of Congress, the Samajwadi Party, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), collectively won 232 seats. This marks a significant opposition presence in the new parliament.
One of the most notable outcomes of the election was in Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party increased its seat from 5 in 2019 to 37.
The Samajwadi Party's rise reduced the ruling BJP's tally from 62 seats in 2019 to 33, preventing the BJP from reaching the majority mark of 272 on its own.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) maintained its dominance in West Bengal, securing 29 seats. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, the DMK led with 22 seats.
In Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena won 7 and 9 seats respectively. Bihar saw the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ahead in 4 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) each secured 3 seats.
Notably, the saffron party experienced a significant setback, losing 63 seats from its previous tally of 303 seats in 2019. This decline is attributed to underperformance in key states like Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly, the BJP made inroads in southern states. While it failed to secure any seats in Tamil Nadu, it achieved a milestone in Kerala by winning seats for the first time and doubled its seat count in Telangana from 4 to 8.
