With the Congress nearing the 100-seat mark in the Lok Sabha and the opposition INDIA alliance closing in on the ruling NDA, the grand old party has intensified its outreach to regional parties both within and outside the INDIA bloc, highly placed sources revealed.
As per the latest trends, the INDIA alliance has dramatically narrowed the gap with the BJP-led NDA to just around 50 seats, raising prospects of an unlikely opposition victory if potential allies can be roped in.
Hindustan Times has learnt that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has personally reached out to Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as well as Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
The surprising resurgence of Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) which is leading in around 15 seats in Bihar has particularly buoyed the Congress’ hopes. The party has managed to retain its strongholds and core voter base better than its senior ally BJP which is leading in just 13 seats.
Though a senior JD(U) leader indicated the party is unlikely to shift loyalties so soon after rejoining the NDA earlier this year, sources said the Congress is hopeful of convincing Kumar who was earlier a key force behind the formation of the INDIA bloc.
In Maharashtra too, the Congress is eyeing Eknath Shinde whose faction of the Shiv Sena is leading in around 10 seats. Despite the bitter campaign exchanges, the party’s top leadership has reached out to both Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray camps expressing hopes of bringing them back into the INDIA alliance, especially keeping the upcoming assembly polls in mind.
Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, who has so far maintained an equidistant position from both national fronts, is another prospect the Congress is exploring to muster the required numbers.
While no party has committed anything so far, the opposition INDIA bloc is hoping that even with issue-based outside support, they may be able to cross the halfway mark of 272 seats required to form the next government at the Centre.
As the official counting progresses towards its final rounds, hectic parleys and backroom negotiations are on among all political players to stitch together a viable coalition that can stake claim to power.