BJP builds alliances with smaller players, welcomes defectors in South India to boost tally for LS polls

With an aim of 400 seats for the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP hopes to better its tally in Tamil Nadu and Telangana, while working to continue its 2019 tally in Karnataka.

New Delhi: To build its tally in the South, the BJP is casting a wide net — stitching up alliances with small players, building on caste equations where it sees hope and taking in people from other parties.

In Tamil Nadu, there are 6-7 smaller parties it has begun wooing, and in Telangana, there are speculations that it is trying to rebuild conversations with the BRS.

With an aim of 400 seats for the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP hopes to better its rally in these two states while working to continue its 2019 tally in Karnataka.

In Tamil Nadu, while the BJP is in alliance with five regional parties, it is engaging with a few more. With the exit of the AIADMK from the NDA in September 2023, the parties left within the NDA fold are the OPS faction of the AIADMK, the TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, the Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar), Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi and the Puthiya Needhi Katchi.

However, a senior union minister said that there is a possibility of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, the party founded by Captain Vijaykant, and the Pattali Makkal Katchi joining the NDA. The BJP has also set its sight on Puthiya Tamilagam, the party founded by K Krishnasamy.

“Not all of these parties will help us win the seats that we are working hard on, but it adds up,” the minister said.

The BJP has concentrated its effort in the Madurai belt, and it is trying to build a base among the Thevar and Gounder communities. State unit president Annamalai is from the Gounder caste, while TTV Dhinakaran as well as OPS are from the Thevar community.

Of the 38 seats in the state, the NDA had managed to win only 1 seat in 2019, which was bagged by the AIADMK. The DMK had won 24 seats and the Congress won 8 seats.

In Telangana, where the Congress is working with renewed vigour after winning the assembly elections, the BJP is trying to restart talks with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, even though a section of the party’s state unit stands opposed to the alliance. Some leaders within the state feel that the only way to win against the Congress will be to join hands, tacitly if the need arises.

Former state president Bandi Sanjay as well as union minister G Kishan Reddy have vehemently opposed the idea, with Sanjay going on to say that the party cadre should beat up anyone who suggests so. In 2019, the BRS had won 9 of the state’s 17 seats, the BJP won 4 and the Congress, 3 seats. Owaisi’s AIMIM had won 1 seat.

In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, while talks of an alliance with former NDA partner Telugu Desam Party has remained inconclusive, both sides had not given up yet. Of the state’s 25 seats, the TDP had won only 3 seats in 2019, leaving 22 for the YSRCP.

The BJP also hopes to maintain the status quo in Karnataka where it had managed to win 25 of the state’s 27 seats. The party leadership intends to field some of its senior faces like finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajeev Chandrasekhar.