'NDA govt won't last beyond Maharashtra and UP polls,' claims TMC's Kalyan Banerjee

TMC's Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday predicted that the NDA government won't last for five years and might collapse after assembly elections in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. "Jyada din nahi rahenge...sirf Maharashtra ka election hone dijiye, Uttar Pradesh ka election hone dijiye...1.5 varsh me  saaf ho jayega (They won't last for long. Let elections happen in Maharashtra and UP, after that it will be clear in 1.5 years)," Banerjee, TMC MP from Sreerampur, said while speaking in the Lok Sabha.

After Banerjee concluded his speech, BJP's Bhupender Yadav urged the Speaker to expunge the TMC leader's remarks on the NDA allies, TDP and JDU. Yadav said the BJP had a pre-poll alliance with the JDU and TDP. He also pointed out that TMC, now part of the INDIA bloc, was not even part of the opposition in West Bengal.    

The Opposition has been targeting the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP does not have a majority on its own and the NDA government's survival depends on the support from two crucial allies, Nitish Kumar's JDU and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP. 

Maharashtra will go to polls later this year, while assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are due in 2027. In both states, the BJP suffered a massive setback in the Lok Sabha elections. If the general elections' trends hold, the saffron party may lose elections in Maharashtra and face a tough fight in Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP's tally also dropped in West Bengal from 18 in 2019 to 12 in 2024. West Bengal will go to polls in 2026. The Opposition believes that if the saffron party faces setbacks in the next few elections, its allies might consider changing sides. However, the JDU and TDP have pledged their support to the government, with Nitish Kumar saying he won't leave the NDA. 

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, whose Jana sena is also part of the NDA, also backs Prime Minister Modi.