NEW DELHI: An opposition bid to jointly mount a challenge to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a national election is floundering after a key party switched sides and two others broke ranks.

The developments are a boost to Modi’s goal of winning nearly three-quarters of seats in the election, which is due by May. The return of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in the eastern state of Bihar on Sunday after a regional party left the opposition bloc means it will contest the election running three of India’s four most politically important states.

Bihar sends the fourth-most directly elected lawmakers to parliament, while its neighbour Uttar Pradesh, also ruled by the BJP, is at the top, making them critical for the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) goal of securing 400 of the 543 directly elected seats to the lower house of parliament, up from 339 now. “There’s hardly any contest left for the 2024 election now,” said political analyst Sanjay Kumar.

He questioned if the main opposition Congress party would even be able hold on to its low numbers from the last two elections.

Unemployment and underemployment are a key concern for Modi’s government to secure the vote, despite economic growth of 7.3%.

The BJP currently has 290 seats in the lower house compared with 48 for Congress and 16 for Bihar’s Janata Dal (United), which is now with Modi’s alliance partner.

Kumar’s exit from the 28-party INDIA opposition alliance, formed last summer, is a blow for the grouping both numerically and optically as he was one of its main architects of the coalition. Kumar on Sunday told reporters that he left the alliance because “things were not going right”.