Will Nitish Kumar return to INDIA? Congress reaches out to JD(U)

Will Nitish Kumar return to INDIA? Congress reaches out to JD(U)

The Congress skillfully reached out to leaders of the ruling alliance, notably Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, as the INDIA group and National Democratic Alliance’s seat totals turned out to be closer than anticipated.

There is a good chance that the INDIA group will welcome Nitish Kumar and Eknath Shinde, two erstwhile allies, into its fold because the two alliances have almost 50 fewer seats between them.

Fourteen out of the sixteen Lok Sabha seats that Nitish Kumar’s JDU ran for in Bihar were won. The TDP of Chandrababu Naidu was predicted to perform similarly.

The two will effectively become the quintessential kingmakers with their combined 28 Lok Sabha seats.

In the past, Nitish Kumar has experienced difficulties with loyalty switching. He left the INDIA bloc a few months ago and joined the NDA, which is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Ironically, it was Kumar who was crucial in bringing the strange partnership full of conflicting emotions together.

However, JDU insiders informed HT that his party had no intention of switching allegiances once more.

Nevertheless, a Congressman brought up the fact that Kumar did not receive the visit from Samrat Chaudhary, the BJP’s deputy chief minister, on Tuesday.

The leaders of the Congress party are also attempting to court Eknath Shinde, whose Shiv Sena party was leading by ten seats.

Shinde was an undivided Shiv Sena ally of Congress. But he created a vertical rift in the party that Bal Thackeray founded, relegating Sena leader and his son Uddhav Thackeray to the periphery of Maharashtra politics.

In Maharashtra, Thackeray’s party led in about ten Lok Sabha seats, suggesting a robust resurgence.

In Bihar, the BJP, which had run for 17 seats, was in the lead in 11 seats. With 272 seats, the party looks to be short of a simple majority. However, the party is able to establish a government with the support of the NDA.

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It was believed that the NDA held a lead in more than 290 seats. With more over 230 seats, the INDIA bloc held the advantage.

The BJP was expected to win more than 350 seats, according to the exit polls, with some pollsters even projecting that the ruling alliance may surpass its high goal of 400 seats.