India election: Nitish, Chandrababu emerge ‘kingmakers’

With 28 seats between them, N. Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) control the balance of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Both parties have re-pledged their allegiance to the NDA and confirmed that they will attend the alliance’s meeting on Wednesday.

This has not stopped the INDIA bloc, which is nearly 40 seats short of the majority mark, from courting them.
Unlike Mr. Naidu’s public assertion, no one from Bihar Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar was forthcoming.

Mr. Kumar purportedly declined to meet Bihar BJP president Samrat Chaudhary despite his repeated efforts to do so on Tuesday.

His refusal has spurred speculation, especially since there are talks that I.N.D.I.A bloc leader has approached him.

In Delhi, the party’s secretary general and spokesperson, K.C. Tyagi, said, “We are with the NDA and will continue to be with them.”

Mr. Naidu and Mr. Kumar have both publicly repudiated Mr. Modi in the past. In March 2018, the TDP, which was part of the NDA’s first term, snapped ties with the BJP over the denial of special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP had also moved a no-confidence motion against the Modi government and joined hands with the Congress and the rest of the Opposition ahead of the 2019 elections.

Mr. Naidu returned to the NDA fold just ahead of the 2024 elections.