Hyderabad: After the exit polls are out on May 19, the last day of polling in the seven-phase general elections, the political atmosphere will heat up at the national level as parties juggle to position themselves on the winning side.
The exit polls may give some idea about what the election results are likely to be, and the main national political parties — the BJP and the Congress — will likely open dialogues with other political parties that were not their election partners, in order to make up the numbers.
The NDA was formed in 1998 with the BJP and 13 other political parties. At the time of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the number of allies went up to 41, but dropped to 21 in the current general election.
Between 1999 and 2019, several parties left the NDA and new partners joined. In this period, 33 political parties left the NDA while some merged with the BJP.
In 2018, political parties such as the TD, PDP, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Pravasi Nivasi Party were among those that left the NDA.
The UPA was formed after the 2004 general election with 13 political parties, and it also had the support of left parties. Later, the total number of UPA allies crossed 40. But political parties such as the TRS, BSP, Trinamul, PDP, Pattali Makkal Katchi and MIM were among those that left the UPA. The left parties have also withdrawn support to the UPA. Some political parties changed their loyalties from one formation to the other.
Political pundits predict a hung parliament. The BSP and TMC, which left the UPA, will not support the NDA or the BJP. Both parties are likely to win significant number of seats and may be wooed by the Congress.
In Telangana state, the TRS, which left the UPA in 2006, is also likely to win a good number of seats, while in AP, the YSR Congress is expecting to win at least 20 seats and has not announced its support for either formation. If these two parties win 35 seats, their support will be crucial to the NDA and the UPA in the event of a hung parliament.
