Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy met Union Home Minister and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah in Parliament on Thursday, following which JD(S) formally joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday. BJP President JP Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant were also present during the meeting.
Notably, earlier in July this year, HD Deve Gowda has ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. At a press conference Deve Gowda had said “JDS will never sink…We will fight for parliament elections independently and will not take any help from any party. Let me be very clear.”
After meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, Former Karnataka CM and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy said, “Today formally we discussed about joining hands with the BJP. We’ve discussed the preliminary issues formally…There is no demand (from our side).”
After the meeting, Nadda said on X, “I am happy that JD(S) has decided to be the part of National Democratic Alliance. We wholeheartedly welcome them in the NDA. This will further strengthen NDA and vision of Hon PM Narendra Modi Ji for ‘New India, Strong India’.”
There were talks within Karnataka’s political circles for the past few months that the JD(S) could ally with the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The BJP, which heads the NDA, believes an alliance with the JD(S) will ensure its domination in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as the regional party enjoys considerable influence in south Karnataka where the saffron party has traditionally been weak.
The JD(S) had aligned with the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, however, the parties faced a drubbing as the BJP swept 25 out of the 28 seats in Karnataka and even an independent candidate supported by the BJP won from the Mandya constituency.
The JD(S) has allied with both the BJP and the Congress in Karnataka. Though the JD(S) won 19 seats in the recent Karnataka Assembly polls that were held in May, it was the party’s worst performance in history.
Notably, the party was not invited either to the NDA meeting in Delhi or to the meeting of the Opposition- INDIA bloc in Bengaluru in July.
JD(S)- BJP seat sharing issue
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) national president HD Deve Gowda on Friday said that the matter regarding the seat-sharing between JD(S) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not with him adding that party leader HD Kumaraswamy will discuss the issue.
“The matter is not with me. It is Kumaraswamy who is going to meet the Home Minister. He will discuss,” Deve Gowda said.
Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy termed as “personal reaction” remarks of BS Yediyurappa about Janata Dal (Secular) fighting about four seats in the Lok Sabha elections next year in alliance with BJP and said there has been no discussion so far between the two parties on seat sharing.
(With agency inputs)
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Updated: 22 Sep 2023, 05:13 PM IST