Attacking the newly formed NDA government, being led for the third time by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said it has been formed by a mistake and it could collapse anytime. His comments follow speculation about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) struggle to maintain its alliances.
“NDA government has been formed by mistake. Modi ji doesn’t have the mandate. It’s a minority government. This government can fall anytime,” Kharge told reporters in Bengaluru.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supported Kharge’s stance. RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad said, “Kharge is right! The popular mandate was against the Modi government. Voters didn’t accept him, yet he rose to power.”
In the 543-member Lok Sabha, the NDA secured 293 seats. Despite winning 240 seats this time, the maximum by any party, the BJP fell short of crossing the majority mark of 272. However, the BJP managed to form the government for the third time with the help of its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners. NDA allies like N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP with 16 seats, Nitish Kumar’s JDU with 12 seats, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena with 7 seats, and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas with 5 seats helped take the coalition’s tally to 293.
“We would like it to continue, let it be good for the country, we should work together to strengthen the country,” Kharge added.
Kharge’s critique of the coalition government prompted swift rebuttals from NDA leaders. The Janata Dal (United) suggested Kharge to reflect on the history of coalition governments formed by Congress.
JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar reminded Kharge of Congress’s own legacy, when in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections where Congress, despite winning a similar number of seats as the BJP in 2024, formed a minority government under PV Narasimha Rao, who reportedly engineered a split in smaller parties and turned a minority Congress into a majority party in two years.
BJP leader Shaina NC said that Kharge has not yet has not yet “digested the fact that Modi 3.0 has already taken the oath, is working in the interest of India.”
“NDA has a clear majority. We have won 292 Lok Sabha seats, I advise Mallikarjun Kharge to play the role of opposition,” Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said.
