The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a political alliance in India that was formed in 1998 as a coalition to contest the general elections. The main aim of the NDA was to form an anti-Indian National Congress coalition. The NDA is a centre-right to right-wing conservative Indian political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and currently controls the government of India as well as the government of 15 Indian states and one Union territory. The NDA includes 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. The NDA has never been in power in three states – Kerala, Telangana, and West Bengal. The NDA has 38 allies, including many smaller regional outfits. The NDA faced the general elections of 1998 and 1999 by having Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the prime ministerial candidate, won both elections, and formed the government. The NDA’s first full five-year term in office was marked by instability. Regional parties came and went from the coalition as a result of local political calculations, which changed depending on the conduct of both the national government as a whole and other BJP-led state and local governments.