Modi’s allies want funds, cabinet jobs
Regional parties in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance demanded more funds for their states and federal cabinet positions as negotiations began on forming a new coalition government, alliance leaders and sources said.
Modi has been named leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its outright majority in India’s parliamentary election and found itself reliant on support from regional parties — mainly the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United).
The NDA won 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament, where 272 constitutes a simple majority.
But Modi’s BJP won only 240, making TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U) head Nitish Kumar, also the chief minister of the eastern state of Bihar, kingmakers in the alliance with their 16 and 12 seats respectively.
TDP also won a regional election in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, and Naidu is set to become chief minister there.
“We’re still in discussions, and one thing we’re clear on is Naidu wants to maintain a very good relationship with the center (federal government) because our priority is state development and interest,” senior TDP leader Kutumba Rao told Reuters.
According to one TDP spokesperson and five NDA sources, both parties are pushing longstanding demands that their states be granted special status.
The special status allows states to receive more federal development funds more straightforwardly.
While Bihar is India’s poorest state, Andhra Pradesh lost some of its resources in 2014 when the new state of Telangana was carved out of it.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that besides special status and cabinet positions, TDP is also seeking more funds for irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh and to complete the building of its new capital, Amaravati.
“This is not the first time we are in NDA, so we are confident that we will get what is due to us,” TDP spokesperson Jyothsna Tirunagari said.
“In our earlier terms with NDA, we had ministerial berths and our party’s Lok Sabha [lower house] speaker. This time, we are a strong partner and share a clear vision for the country,” she said.
One NDA source said JD(U)’s Kumar also wants support for new industrial projects in Bihar and federal cabinet positions.
Top BJP leaders held talks about ministerial portfolios with the allies on Thursday, a day before Modi is expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu to present his claim to form the next government, one BJP source said.
Modi is expected to be sworn in over the weekend, and local media reported that the leaders of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Mauritius, and the king of Bhutan have been invited to attend the inauguration.
The coalition negotiations are a throwback to an era before 2014 — when Modi swept to power with an outright BJP majority — in which alliance partners haggled for positions and benefits in exchange for their support.
The BJP’s loss of its majority unnerved markets and raised the prospect of a less stable and sure-footed government than the outgoing one.
However, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a top BJP leader and newly elected lawmaker, told the CNN-News18 TV channel that Modi’s new government would last its full five-year term and “return with a better performance.”
A survey published on Thursday suggested that a lack of jobs, high inflation, and falling income had cost Modi votes, even though he personally still commanded wide support.
According to the Lokniti-CSDS post-election survey published by the Hindu newspaper, 30 percent of voters said they were worried about inflation, compared to 20 percent prior to the election.
In a survey for the Hindu conducted before the election, 32 percent of respondents cited unemployment as their main concern.
According to the survey, declining income and the government’s handling of corruption and fraud were other issues of concern.