After his first two national election victories, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India easily set his own terms and his Bharatiya Janata Party won clear majorities.
The result was different in this vote. It was still a victory, but one that left him dependent on a number of coalition partners, particularly two other politicians from regional parties who could make or break Modi’s ability to form a government.
Of the more than a dozen parties that make up the BJP coalition, known as the National Democratic Alliance, most won only one or two seats. The partners Modi needs most are openly secular and far from his Hindu nationalist ideology.
On Wednesday, cameras followed every word, meeting and move of the leaders of the two parties, N. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party and Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal-United, whose combined 28 seats in Parliament the prime minister needs to stay. in power and push his agenda.
Here’s what you should know about the men who have unexpectedly become kingmakers and the parties they lead.
Their parties do not share Modi’s agenda of prioritizing Hindus.
Although some of the members of the BJP’s coalition this year share Modi’s hardline vision, both the Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal-United are moderate, secular parties that have a diverse support base.
Speculation in India now centers on the conditions men might demand for their support, which are unlikely to be rooted in ideology. Both Naidu and Kumar are known to be pragmatic politicians and negotiators whose priorities will be practical concessions for their state, or perhaps cabinet positions.
They have a history of shifting alliances.
Kumar has earned a reputation in India for his willingness to switch allegiances over the past decade. He has gone from aligning himself with the BJP-led coalition to supporting its rivals no less than five times. Most recently, in January, he returned to Modi’s alliance just 18 months after leaving it and with elections just months away. He has said that his change of political allegiances was in the interest of his state, Bihar.
On Wednesday, local media reported that Kumar was on a flight to New Delhi with a politician whose party is aligned with the opposition coalition.
Naidu has also broken with Modi at times, cutting ties with the BJP in 2018 and joining forces with its main rival, the Indian National Congress, ahead of the 2019 elections. He has said his party has aligned itself with the BJP out of “compulsion.” policy”.
They are long-time survivors of a difficult political landscape.
Naidu and Kumar have been in politics for decades and have been mentioned as potential prime ministerial candidates.
Naidu of the TDP, based in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, is a technocrat who has aggressively lobbied for investment from information technology companies in his region. His policies helped generate well-paying jobs for IT professionals and transformed the city of Hyderabad.
Kumar is a nine-time chief minister of Bihar, India’s poorest state, and comes from a local socialist background. He has pushed for more funds for lower-caste Hindus and his alliance with the BJP expanded support for the party in his state.