Watch: Nitish, Tejashwi head to Delhi on same flight for NDA, INDIA meets

After the surprising 2024 Lok Sabha elections result on June 4, JDU has said that the party will remain in the NDA, dismissing any speculation of a switch to the INDIA bloc

A day after the 2024 Lok Sabha election results, leaders from both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA bloc are travelling to New Delhi on Wednesday (June 5) to discuss their next moves. Notably, Nitish Kumar, known for his frequent political alliance changes, shared a flight with INDIA-ally and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav as they headed to the national capital for separate meetings.

As photos of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar & him travelling on the same flight to Delhi go viral, he says, "We greeted each other. Baaki kya hota hai, aage dekhte dekhte rahiye." (Let's see what happens)

 

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar’s close aide and JDU leader KC Tyagi told news agency ANI yesterday that the party will remain in the NDA, dismissing any speculation of a switch to the INDIA bloc. 

Another influential figure, Chandrababu Naidu, congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the NDA’s remarkable performance in Andhra Pradesh and stated that the TDP and BJP will work together to rebuild the state.

With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls resulting in no absolute majority for the BJP, NDA and INDIA partners are holding crucial meetings today to gather the numbers needed to form the government.

The BJP-led NDA secured 294 seats in the 543-member Parliament, 22 more than the required majority of 272. The INDIA opposition bloc finished with 234 seats, 38 short of the majority mark. Two NDA allies, TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu and JDU’s Nitish Kumar, are pivotal in the quest for power.

Although both contested the General Election in alliance with the BJP, INDIA leaders have reportedly reached out to these coalition-era veterans in an attempt to sway them to the Opposition bloc. For the INDIA bloc to achieve a majority, they need support from JDU and TDP, as well as the unaligned Members of Parliament.

It is important to remember that both Naidu and Kumar have been highly critical of PM Modi and the BJP in the past. Nitish Kumar spearheaded efforts to form an Opposition front against the BJP before his last-minute switch.

Among the INDIA bloc leaders travelling to the capital for the key meeting are Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and DMK president MK Stalin. Leaders from Left parties will also be in attendance.

For the NDA, Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu are flying in. So are Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Hindustan Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan and HD Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (Secular).