Regional parties across India are aiming to get for themselves the national party status. According to ECI, registered party is recognized as a National Party only if it fulfills any one of the following three conditions:
· The party wins 2 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha from at least 3 different States; or
· At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in four States and in addition to it wins 4 Lok Sabha seats from any state or states; or
· A party gets recognition as a State Party in four or more States.
The Janata Dal (U), a member of Bihar’s ruling grand coalition, aspires to achieve national status before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, has claimed that he is attempting to unite political parties opposed to the BJP and has stated that he has no intention of running as a unified opposition candidate against Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“We are hopeful of getting national status,” national principal general secretary KC Tyagi had said last year expressing confidence that the party is “confident that Nitish Kumar would be successful in his mission 2024 by uniting the opposition ahead of Lok Sabha polls.”
The issue has always been whether the allied opposition can defeat Modi in 2024.
Kumar is seen as a potential prime ministerial contender for Janata Dal (United). Although he has denied harboring such ambitions, Kumar recently stated during the Samadhan Yatra around the State that he may tour the country to cement Opposition unity following the State Budget session.
Nitish’s ideological infidelity, on the other hand, is well known. Since taking power in Bihar in November 2005, the eight-time Chief Minister has defected twice (in 2013 and 2022) from the Bharatiya Janata Party and once from the RJD (in 2017). However, he has managed to maintain power throughout, demonstrating his political acumen and maneuvering skills.
And now, recent reports imply that things are not going well between his party, the JD (U), and its ally, the RJD. According to reports, the RJD would also contest ten seats in Nagaland at the ensuing general election.
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