Once 23-member strong, NDA now left with just a few regional partners Besides BJP, the NDA now only has the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal as major parties. Most of the NDA’s constituent parties joined the alliance after the BJP emerged the strongest party after the 1998 general elections, and then again after the 1999 polls. “When it was in power, the NDA at a time had as many as 23 alliance partners, but the number is a bit of exaggeration as many of them were single-member parties. Some of the parties to have left the NDA: BJD — The party left the alliance just over a month before the 2009 elections. JMM — The Jharkhand-based party withdrew from the alliance in 2012. Along with it, All Jharkhand Students Union also left the alliance. The National Conference — It withdrew from the NDA in 2002, blaming the BJP for its loss in the state elections. LJP — The Ram Vilas Paswan-led party withdrew following the 2002 riots. AIADMK — J Jayalalithaa’s withdrawal of support from the first NDA government in 1999 led to its collapse. The AIADMK again joined the NDA before the 2004 general elections, but did not remain aligned after the NDA’s defeat in 2004. DMK — The DMK joined the NDA after AIADMK left. The DMK, MDMK and PMK left the NDA in 2002. Indian Federal Democratic Party — Its leader, PC Thomas, was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and the only MP in the alliance from Kerala. Following the 2004 election, he merged his party with the Kerala Congress. All India Trinamool Congress —The Mamata Banerjee-led party was part of the NDA from 1998 to 2007. Indian National Lok Dal — Left the NDA due to seat-sharing disagreements during Haryana assembly elections 2009. Rashtriya Lok Dal —The party is now allied with the Congress-led UPA. TDP — The party had extended support to the NDA, but did not become part of the alliance formally. — IANS
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:41:24 +0000