The BJP's counter-strategy of important inductions ahead of the 2024 elections amid the opposition's attempt to unite the country

On Sunday, July 16, the saffron party welcomed Om Prakash Rajbhar, a well-known OBC leader, into its ranks in a major move seen as a response to the opposition's attempt to portray the BJP as hostile to the OBC's interests in the Hindi heartland.

In the lead-up to the 2024 general elections, the opposition has taken advantage of a number of issues, including the OBC census, to corner the BJP government. As part of broader efforts to increase the OBC reservation, the Congress joined a number of regional parties in calling for a caste census. However, the BJP appears to be leading the charge, with Rajbhar joining the NDA months ahead of the pivotal Lok Sabha elections next year.

In an effort to remove the Narendra Modi government from power in 2024, the Opposition is attempting to bring together different political parties with disparate ideologies and positions on a range of issues, but the BJP also appears to be playing its cards.

Since 2014, Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 parliamentary seats, has been the BJP's stronghold. While Apna Dal (Soneylal), which has Anupriya Patel as a Union minister, is already a member of the NDA, Rajbhar is one of the state's leaders with influence among the boatmen and fishing communities. It is said that backward Kurmis are the main supporters of her party.

Regarding the request for a census of Other Backward Classes, the Center has remained silent thus far.

In recent months, a number of leaders from smaller parties who identify primarily with a particular backward or Dalit caste have moved to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, primarily from the Opposition, as the ruling party strengthens a flank where it has occasionally seemed vulnerable.

Despite losing its ally Nitish Kumar, who rejected the saffron party and joined the Mahagathbandhan last year, the BJP hopes to win every Lok Sabha seat in the politically charged state of Bihar next year.

The RJD-JD(U)-Congress-Left alliance has been abandoned by Kushwaha leader Upendra Kushwaha and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose Manjhi community is a part of the Dalits.

While Kushwaha has held numerous meetings with the leaders of the BJP, Manjhi has already offered his support to the NDA.

Chirag Paswan, the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), is also invited to the NDA meeting in Delhi on July 18. He has also stated that he would like to join the NDA, provided that Pashupati Paras does not join the coalition. The BJP is attempting to win Chirag back.

However, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election in 2014, the Samajwadi Party has been able to break through the dominant political force established in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2022 assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav sided with Rajbhar and an opposing Apna Dal faction.

Dara Singh Chauhan is one of the OBC leaders from the BJP who defected to the SP in order to increase its outreach to non-Yadav backers. Chauhan's decision to resign as an MLA and probably return to his previous party represents yet another blow to the fragmented opposition in the pivotal state.

In 2022, the SP-RLD alliance in the Western UP experienced some success in splitting the Jat votes. With the speculations doing the rounds that the BJP is attempting to woo the Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Singh to join the NDA folds underscores the saffron party’s conviction in winning all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP had won 62 seats in 2019 while its ally Apna Dal won two.

In 2022, the SP-RLD alliance in the Western UP experienced some success in splitting the Jat votes. The rumors circulating that the BJP is trying to persuade Jayant Singh, the leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, to join the NDA highlight the saffron party's determination to win all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. In 2019, the BJP won 62 seats, while the Apna Dal, its ally, won two.

Furthermore, the leaders of the BJP believe that they can portray the NDA as an umbrella coalition that is more socially representative than their two primary rivals, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD, by winning over leaders of smaller parties associated with various backward and Dalit castes.

On June 23, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met with all opposition leaders at his Patna home. The purpose of the meeting was to develop a plan to oppose the BJP and to unite all parties against it. More than fifteen political party leaders took part in it.

In response, the BJP is making every effort to win a third consecutive election in 2024, which is expected to be a fiercely competitive campaign.