Can BJP achieve its 370-plus seats target in 2024 Lok Sabha polls?

In his Lok Sabha speech last month Prime Minister Narendra Modi exemplified confidence in coming into power for the third consecutive time and set an ambitious target for the Bhartiya Janata Party BJP to win 370plus seats and 400plus seats for the National Democratic Alliance NDA Giving a war cry of lsquoabki baar 400 paar the ruling party workers across the country are leaving no stone unturned to achieve the target set by their supreme leader But the question arises can the BJP break its record in the upcoming Lok Sabha election battle Political experts say it is unlikely considering the challenges in states where the BJP is in allianceElectoral battleIn the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the BJP secured a majority by winning 303 seats across the country including all constituencies in nine states and union territories by contesting 436 seats This was a significant improvement from their 2014 victory where they won 282 seats by contesting on 282 The party not only won 21 more seats in 2019 but also increased its strike rateFor the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the BJP to achieve Modirsquos set target of 370 seats it needs 67 more seats The party has already set a foot ahead by releasing a list of 195 candidates However the final list is awaited which will give a clear picture of the total number of seats and the statewise seats the BJP will fight forAlso Read Will Congress Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra yield results as expectedIn its first list of candidates the party did not include the names of candidates from states where they are in alliance with strong regional parties like Maharashtra The BJPled NDA presently has 40 members with Nitish Kumarrsquos Janata Dal United joining back The BJP is trying to woo regional parties to fight the Congressled INDIA bloc which was formed last year to defeat the BJP Although the INDIA bloc has internal differences and clashes the fact remains that the alliance is the only strong opposition to the BJPAs political analyst Prashant Kishor says the narrative is shifted from lsquowill BJP winrsquo to lsquowill BJP win 400 seatsrsquoNDA members will be crucialPolitical commentator Ashok Wankhede said For the BJP to achieve a landslide victory in 2024 the NDA and likeminded regional parties will play a crucial role To woo the regional members the BJP not only gave a couple of Rajya Sabha seats to newly joined members like Ashok Chavan or the NDArsquos Milind Deora but also awarded two Bharat RatnardquoAlthough Union Minister Amit Shah recently said the highest civilian awards to Karpoori Thakur and Chaudhary Charan Singh were announced only considering their contributions to Indian society the opposition claimed the awards were given only eyeing electoral support by followers of the two late leadersSoon after the Bharat Ratna announcement to Thakur Nitish Kumarrsquos JDU rejoined the NDA and Bharat Ratna to Chaudhary brought Jayant Chaudharyrsquos RLD into the allianceldquoFirstly how strong is the NDA and secondly from where will the BJP bring more 67 seatsrdquo said Wankhede ldquoIn some big states like Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan the BJP is already strong However in other states like Karnataka people still remember the BJPrsquos misrule In Maharashtra the threeparty alliance is yet to decide on seatsharing The Shiv Sena and NCP are strong regional parties thus they wonrsquot leave their ruling seatsrdquo Wankhede addedThe BJP is pushing for southern India to increase its electoral win in the Lok Sabha However after defeat in Telangana in recent assembly elections the partyrsquos fight to raise vote share in southern states persistsldquoBJP is almost nonexistent in states like Kerala Tamil Nadu and Telangana Its target will be to save the existing seats The party may increase its vote share considering onground efforts but significantly winning more Lok Sabha seats from southern states is unlikelyrdquo Wankhede addedWith stronger alliances and strategies with regional parties the NDA can substantially increase its vote share compared to 2019 ldquoThe NDA can easily add 10 to 20 per cent more seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha from the existing 330rdquo Prashant Kishor saidHowever he also said that although the BJP wonrsquot cross 370 there are no signs of Congress increasing its Lok Sabha seats in 2024 compared to 2019 lsquoEven if Congress wins 50 plus seats it wonrsquot change the political wave in the country anywayrdquo Kishor assertedWeak INDIA bloc benefits BJPOver 18 months ago the Congressled Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance INDIA was formed with 28 political parties to defeat the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections The INDIA bloc did raise hope for a strong opposition against the nationalist BJPled NDA government but instead of strengthening it the INDIA bloc is losing its grip day by dayWith major INDIA bloc members like the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal declaring all 42 seat candidates for Lok Sabha 2024 and the Samajwadi Party earlier announcing its seat share locally in Uttar Pradesh the hopes for the alliance giving a tough fight to the NDA are leanCommenting on Congressrsquo fight against the BJP Ashok Wankhede said The BJP has a clear win against Congress candidates It will have to fight hard in constituencies where other regional parties TMC SP AAP etc leaders are nominatedrdquoA recent survey by TNETG Research showed the NDA will fall short of its 400seat target but the alliance will have a landslide victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha electionsAs per the survey the NDA is likely to win 358 to 398 seats while INDIA bloc might gain about 110 to 130 While the BJP alone is likely to win 333 to 363 seats and the Congress 28 to 48 seatsBut the fact that the Congressled ledINDIA bloc is shrinking takes away the purpose of defeating the BJP at the CentreThe BJPled NDA may not achieve its lsquoabki baar 400 paarrsquo but the weak oppositionrsquos poor electoral strategies allow the BJP to exemplify its confidence in breaking its electoral win record