Alternative Leadership: The Opposition s Game Plan for Combating NDA

The tally of 353 seats for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Seventeenth Lok Sabha has created a kind of oppositional vacuum both inside and outside the parliament. The recent statement by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the oppositional unity and the role of Congress could be seen as an effort to fill that political vacuum and create a storm that by 2024 parliamentary elections would become cyclonic completely wiping out the BJP. To chart out the greatest common factor among various political factions that would possibly confront BJP is really a challenging task. Thus, the political aim with which the JDU and the other regional satraps are planning to come together as an oppositional front against NDA and trying to expand their outreach beyond their respective borders needs a more inclusive, integrated and holistic approach. Making a semi-balance in terms of achieving a national stature and at the same time keeping the regional ties intact would be the prime challenge.

Keywords:
2024 Parliamentary elections, Democracy, Opposition, BJP, JDU, and volatility