NEW DELHI: Celebrations marking the completion of 12 years of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government commenced on Monday, with the BJP highlighting its achievements and key initiatives over the past decade.
The events began with media interactions involving senior BJP leaders and prominent Union ministers, including Amit Shah, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Piyush Goyal and party president Nitin Nabin.
The party has planned a range of activities across the country, in the run-up to the Monsoon session of Parliament, tentatively scheduled for July. Speculation is rife that the NDA may use the strengthened political environment to revive the delimitation bill during the session.
The legislative proposal—intertwined with an amendment bill on women’s quota—seeks to redraw parliamentary and assembly constituencies and potentially increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. It was defeated on the floor of the Lok Sabha on April 17.
However, the NDA appears increasingly confident about its prospects, as its position in Parliament continues to strengthen. The latest implosion within the parliamentary party of the Trinamool Congress with 20 of its 28 Lok Sabha MPs led by senior leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar seeking to form a separate bloc and aligning themselves with the NDA, takes the ruling coalition closer to the 352 votes required in April for a supermajority to get the delimitation bill passed. The NDA fell short in April, as it just had 298. The NDA is also improving its position in the Rajya Sabha.