Every party has an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Last week, Nitish Kumar brought together fifteen parties in Patna and conveyed the message to the whole country. These fifteen parties have 26 percent seats in the Lok Sabha and 42 percent seats in Legislative Assemblies.
They also have governments in 11 states. Out of 4,123 assembly seats in different states, 1,717 seats (42%) are held by them. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 142 MPs from these parties won the elections. The Opposition parties have a total of 94 MPs in the Rajya Sabha which is 38 percent of the total MPs. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the Congress got 12 crore votes, and won 55 seats in the country. The same parties received 22.3 crore votes. BJP got 303 seats with 23 crore votes in the last general election.
The Opposition parties have both their strengths and their weaknesses. But the question remains as to whether the Opposition will be able to reach an agreement regarding Uttar Pradesh. Looking at the condition of the state, it seems unlikely. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the BSP and SP formed what was touted as a historic alliance, however, nothing came of it.
The SP currently has three MPs in the Lok Sabha while BSP has nine; both parties have now become enemies. The BSP claims about 19 percent votes in UP, but in the last election BSP got 3.62 percent votes and won 10 seats. The SP got 2.55 percent votes and five seats. Om Prakash Rajbhar’s party was with the Samajwadi Party in the 2022 assembly elections. The same party also stood with Akhilesh in the 2022 assembly elections, but now he is also looking to go down a different path. Congress, meanwhile, has become completely bankrupt in Uttar Pradesh. In 2019, only Sonia Gandhi was able to save the Rae Bareli seat.