It has been proposed by some Opposition voices that a joint candidate must be fielded in at least 400 Lok Sabha constituencies to defeat the BJP. This can decimate the BJP in those 400 seats, the Opposition hopes.
Would this have worked in 2019? Turns out that the BJP would still have won 224 seats even if the strategy was sincerely followed by the Opposition camp. "On 224 of the 303 seats the BJP won, it recorded a vote share of more than 50%. So, technically, even if the entire opposition was united in 2019, the BJP would have still won 224 seats," says Amitabh Tiwari, a political analyst.
The margin might come down in 2024 if a joint Opposition candidate is fielded in most seats, given that Narendra Modi has been in power for ten years now. That said, it would be a stretch to believe that Congress, BSP and SP will join hands in Uttar Pradesh. In UP and Gujarat alone, BJP will secure something like 85 seats. In about 150 other seats, BJP and Congress alone matter. No regional party matters. BJP has the ability to win as many as 120 of those seats. This alone brings the total to 200 seats.
If BJP can secure the support of regional parties like BJD and YCP post-elections, it will somehow be able to form the government by reaching the magic figure of 272.
