National Democratic Alliance

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO: Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan) is an Indian big tent multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded on 15 May 1998. It currently has a majority in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and controls the Government of India as well as the governments of 19 out of 28 Indian states and 2 out of 3 Union territories with legislative assemblies.
Its first chairman was then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee. L. K. Advani, the former Deputy Prime Minister, took over as chairman in 2004 and served until 2014, and Amit Shah has been the chairman since 2014. The coalition ruled from 1998 to 2004. The alliance returned to power in the 2014 general elections with a combined vote share of 38.5%. Its leader Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014. In the 2019 general election, the alliance further increased its tally to 353 seats with combined vote share of 45.43%. The alliance lost 60 seats in the 2024 general election, but retained enough to form a coalition government, a first in over 10 years. On 7 June 2024, Modi confirmed the support of 293 MPs to Droupadi Murmu, the President of India. This marked Modi's third term as Prime Minister and his first time heading a coalition government, with the Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh and Janata Dal (United) of Bihar emerging as two main allies.
The NDA was formed in May 1998 as a coalition to contest the general elections. The main aim of the NDA was to form an anti-Indian National Congress coalition. It was led by the BJP, and included several regional parties, including the Samata Party and the AIADMK, as well as Shiv Sena, but Shiv Sena broke away from the alliance in 2019 to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi with Congress and the NCP. Samata Party also broke away from alliance in 2003 after formation of Janta Dal (United). The Shiv Sena was the only member which shared the Hindutva ideology of the BJP. After the election, it was able to muster a slim majority with outside support from the Telugu Desam Party, allowing Atal Bihari Vajpayee to return as prime minister.
The government collapsed within a year because the AIADMK withdrew its support. After the entry of a few more regional parties, the NDA proceeded to win the 1999 elections with a larger majority. Vajpayee became Prime Minister for a third time, and this time served a full five-year term.
The NDA called elections in early 2004, six months ahead of schedule. Its campaign was based around the slogan of "India Shining" which attempted to depict the NDA government as responsible for a rapid economic transformation of the country. However, the NDA suffered a defeat, winning only a 186 seats in the Lok Sabha, compared to the 222 of the United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress, with Manmohan Singh succeeding Vajpayee as prime minister. Commentators have argued that the NDA's defeat was due to a failure to reach out to the rural masses. The scenario however changed quickly with the rise of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi who went on to become India's PM from 2014 onwards.
The National Democratic Alliance does not have a formal governing structure such as an executive board or politburo. It has been up to the leaders of the individual parties to make decisions on issues such as sharing of seats in elections, allocation of ministries and the issues that are raised in Parliament. Given the varied ideologies among the parties, there have been many cases of disagreement and split voting among the allies.
Owing to ill health, George Fernandes, who was the NDA convener until 2008, was discharged of his responsibility and replaced by Sharad Yadav, the then national president of the JD(U) political party. On 16 June 2013, the JD(U) left the coalition and Sharad Yadav resigned from the role of the NDA convener. Then the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu was made the NDA convener. Later in 2018, after the withdrawal of TDP from NDA the post of convenor was vacant. However NDA allies like LJP demanded the appointment of a convenor in 2019 for better coordination of the allies.
On 27 July 2017 JD(U) with the help of BJP formed the government in Bihar. Later, on 19 August 2017 JD(U) formally rejoined the NDA after 4 years.
The BJP has previously been the sole party in power in Jharkhand. It has also ruled Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab as part of coalition and alliance governments.
The NDA has never been in power in 3 states – Kerala, Telangana (between 1999 and 2004 BJP in alliance with TDP ruled a United Andhra Pradesh), and West Bengal. But BJP led NDA has ruled many local governing institutions including corporations, municipalities, panchayats and has also been elected to many Lok Sabha constituencies, state assembly constituencies and local body divisions and wards in these 3 states.
The following is a list of the current number of Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the BJP as well as other political parties in the NDA in each of the 28 Indian states and 3 Union territories with legislative assemblies. The NDA currently holds a majority of the seats in 19 states and two Union territories, out of which the BJP on its own holds a majority of the seats in 13 states and one Union territory.
Note that it refers to nomination by alliance, as the offices of President and Vice President are apolitical.
As of March 2025, there are 39 political parties that are members of the alliance. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party are the only two political parties being recognised by the Election Commission of India as national parties. Other parties in the alliance are either recognised as state level parties or unrecognised parties.
Contested on BJP symbol lotus
Contested on AIADMK two leaves symbol
Contested by BJP symbol lotus
JJP joined hands with NDA to forming a stable government at Haryana with BJP
Shiv Sena exited from the NDA, as BJP was not willing to agree for Sharing CM Post with Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra.
BJP, AJSU sever ties in Jharkhand days before Assembly elections 2019.