Shruti Suman
New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge asserted today that the NDA government was formed by mistake and could collapse at any time. His comments follow recent speculation regarding the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) difficulties in maintaining its alliances.
“The NDA government was formed by mistake. Prime Minister Modi does not have the mandate. It is a minority government and could fall at any moment,” Mr. Kharge stated to reporters in Bengaluru.
Mallikarjun Kharge further added, “We would like it to continue if it benefits the nation. We should work together to strengthen the nation.”
The NDA government secured 293 seats in the 543-member general election. The BJP, which had a strong majority in the previous two terms, won only 240 seats, falling short of the 272 needed to form a government.
Support from four allies enabled the BJP to form the government for a third consecutive term. These allies include N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP with 16 seats, Nitish Kumar’s JDU with 12, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena with 7, and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas with 5 seats.
Mr. Kharge’s critique of the coalition government elicited a prompt response from NDA leaders. A Janata Dal (United) leader challenged Mr. Kharge to compare the performance of past prime ministers under Congress-led coalition governments.
During the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won a comparable number of seats to the BJP’s 2024 tally. Despite lacking a clear majority, Congress formed a minority government under PV Narasimha Rao. Mr. Rao subsequently orchestrated a series of political maneuvers, converting the minority Congress into a majority party within two years.
