With caretaker Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to take oath on June 9 for the third term, demands put up by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Janata Dal (Secular) and Janata Dal (United) have put the BJP leadership in a catch 22 situation.
It is the first time Modi will be ruling the Government in a coalition without his party having an outright majority.
Given the experience of two successive NDA regimes, the complete control of the Government this time will not be in the hands of BJP as it does not have an absolute majority.
However, the party is resistant to ceding control over major Ministries to its new alliance. Given the emerging scenario, the BJP top brass will have to deal deftly with these challenges. Top brass of BJP, including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh and RSS leaders, met on Thursday at party president JP Nadda’s residence to discuss the modalities.
The TDP and JD(U), holding 16 and 12 seats respectively, are eyeing their preferred Ministries. The TDP is seeking four-five Cabinet berths and Speaker’s post, while the JD(U) is pushing for three Ministers. Additionally, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, with 7 seats, and Chirag Paswan’s LJP, with five seats, each expect two Ministries. Based on initial discussions, the allies are demanding one Minister for every four MPs.
The BJP reportedly asserted retaining crucial portfolios like Defence, Finance, Home, and Foreign Affairs as the deliberations for the distribution of Union Cabinet portfolios are reportedly underway in the NDA.
Besides seeking Lok Sabha Speaker’s post, TDP’s demands include five portfolios: Education, IT, MoS in Finance, rural development, housing and urban affairs, ports & shipping and road transport and highways.
Apart from Defence, Finance, Home and Foreign Affairs, the BJP will also want to keep the Ministries that deal with infrastructure development, welfare, youth affairs and agriculture with itself. These portfolios are important for implementing the schemes for the four significant voter groups — the poor, women, youth and farmers.
Naidu is also eyeing the position of Lok Sabha Speaker in view of the anti-defection law. The Speaker’s post move is likely to protect the alliance partners from any possible split in the future but the BJP appears unwilling to accept this demand.
TDP is also seeking more funds for irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh and to complete the building of its new capital, Amaravati. Now, MoS Finance is expected to be a key post for the TDP, plus two-three other full Ministries, which helps in the development of Andhra Pradesh, The Minister of Civil Aviation and Minister of State IT was earlier from the TDP till the party pulled out of the NDA government in 2018.
Additionally, the BJP claims to have undertaken major reforms in the Railways and road transport, etc., under the previous NDA Governments, and the party does not want to slow down the pace of reforms by giving them to allies. The Railways traditionally remained with allies, and the BJP brought it back to their domain with much effort, sources noted.
There is also a possibility of other Ministries, such as tourism, MSME, skill development, science and technology, earth sciences, and social justice and empowerment, being handed over to the allies. The JD(S) leadership is hoping that former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is likely to be given the agriculture or any other related portfolio as the party’s vote base is largely in rural areas. The Narendra Modi government formed after the 2014 and 2019 elections had only symbolic representation of allies because the BJP had absolute majority on its own. But this time, the BJP may have to distribute ministerial berths in proportion to seats won by each ally.
Newly elected MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will meet on Friday to elect Modi as their leader, paving the way for him to take oath as Prime Minister for a third term.
Sources said after Modi’s election as the leader of NDA MPs, senior members of the alliance like TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar will join the Prime Minister for a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to present her the list of parliamentarians supporting him.
Another BJP ally and LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan, who is seen as a contender for a Cabinet berth, said his party’s support to Modi is unconditional, stressing that it was under his leadership that the NDA has won a majority.
All NDA constituents are likely to present letters of their support to the President for Modi as the new Prime Minister on Friday, he added. Asked about the JD(U)’s demand for a review of the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, Paswan quoted Modi as saying in the NDA meeting on Wednesday that he was open to suggestions from allies on different issues.
