Former Karnataka CM and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy meets Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. JDS to formally join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) BJP President JP Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant were also present during the meeting.
News of the JDS-BJP alliance was ‘broken’ earlier this month by senior BJP leader and ex-Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
HD Kumaraswamy joins hands With NDA
New Delhi: Prior to the general election of the following year, the Janata Dal (Secular) joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. After meeting with BJP leader JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Friday afternoon, top JDS leader and former chief minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy made the statement. Regarding seat-sharing in the southern state, no information has been made available so far.
Former Karnataka CM and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy meets Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. JDS to formally join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) BJP President JP Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant were also present during the meeting.
Mr. HD Kumaraswamy stated, “Discussions will continue on seat-sharing,” in reference to that subject.
The politicians may be seen conversing in one photo that Mr. Nadda shared on X and standing shoulder to shoulder in another with the BJP leaders draped in a ceremonial shawl.
“I am pleased that JDS has chosen to affiliate with the National Democratic Alliance. They are most welcome here. This will support the NDA and PM Narendra Modi’s goal of building a “New India, Strong India,” he remarked.
HD Deve Gowda, the patriarch of the JDS, revealed to reporters last week that he had begun negotiations with senior BJP figures in Delhi. He said that he did so “not to become Prime Minister again… but to save this party… I saved this party even when HD Kumaraswamy went with the BJP.”
Later, Mr. Kumaraswamy informed NDTV that “after Ganesh Chaturthi, more details will be revealed.”
Additionally, he dismissed rumors that the JDS will win four seats in the Old Mysuru district, where the BJP was thought to have lost territory (and votes) to the Congress in the May Assembly election.
In 2007, the JDS and the BJP joined up to create a government, but it disintegrated after 20 months, according to the BJP, which claimed Mr. Kumaraswamy broke a contract to share the position of Chief Minister.
For the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the regional party and the Congress had also teamed up, but both were comprehensively defeated by the BJP, which won 25 of the state’s 28 seats.
Senior BJP leader and former chief minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa “broke” the news of the JDS-BJP coalition by announcing that the smaller party would run for Mandya and three other seats.
JDS-BJP Partnership
The JDS did poorly in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, winning just one seat and receiving only nine percent or so of the vote. Results in the Assembly election earlier this year were marginally better; it received about 14% of the vote and 19 members, down from 37% in 2018.
When rumors of this coalition initially appeared, the BJP, on the other side, had garnered 36% of the vote in the Assembly election and, more importantly, had swept the state in 2019.
But given that the JDS still holds sway in eight Lok Sabha seats in the Old Mysuru district, as NDTV reported this month, it would still make sense. These include the seats it purportedly desired as part of the agreement with the BJP: Mandya, Hassan, Bengaluru (rural), and Chikballapur. These eight also include Tumkur, the seat HD Deve Gowda, the grandfather of the JDS, ran for but lost in 2019. Additionally, the BJP will be more powerful due to the JDS’s dominance over Vokkalinga supporters. And that could be the clincher because the Congress is said to have gained support from the group that has historically voted for the BJP.
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