The meeting coincides with the closing in Karnataka of the second opposition meeting with leaders of 26 political groups, after which it is expected the announcement of a strategy and probably a common candidate with a view to defeat the government coalition and its main party, BJP, in the general elections of January 2024.

Although the agenda of the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance is not known, the press expects among the discussions an analysis on the way forward for next year’s elections in search of retaining the dominance it holds through the BJP in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (lower and upper houses of Parliament), and the rest of the state powers.

In an analysis in India Today on the upcoming electoral contest, an expert explained that the NDA, which controls most of the states of the Union, has among its challenges to repeat the success in the northeast of India with the dominance achieved by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2014 and 2019 polls.

It must, in addition, retain, dominance in Maharashtra and Bihar where alliances behave unsteadily, define a roadmap for territories such as Bengal that is more effective than the opposition strategy, and gain support in south Indian states against strong regional parties, the expert pointed out.

Of course, he noted, the BJP-led coalition government retains unassailable chances if it wins 126 parliamentary seats contributed by Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat; wins seats from Karnataka, favored by unpredictable voter behavior, and seduces smaller parties from the opposition ranks.

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