The Janata Dal Secular (JDS) has decided to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Former chief minister of Karnataka H.D. Kumaraswamy who met senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Friday told reporters that his party would extend support to the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
"We have decided to extend support to NDA in the polls. We will make a formal announcement next week. We will be discussing the JDS-BJP alliance in the state and the seat sharing with the BJP post Dasara," said Kumaraswamy.
BJP national president J.P. Nadda, in a social media (X) post, confirmed that the regional party had decided to be part of the NDA. "We wholeheartedly welcome them in the NDA. This will strengthen NDA and vision of honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a 'New India, Strong India'," said Nadda, after a meeting between Kumaraswamy, Amit Shah and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
The longest surviving regional party in Karnataka has shared power with both the Congress and the BJP in the state, though the coalition governments did not last long. However, with the Congress party sweeping the May 2023 Assembly elections with 135 seats and dwarfing the regional party in its own turf - the Vokkaliga belt (in south Karnataka), the JDS has decided to join hands with the BJP. By forging the alliance, the two allies hope to consolidate the politically and numerically significant Lingayat (who traditionally vote for the BJP) and Vokkaliga communities to take on the Congress party.
Currently, the saffron party holds 26 out of the 28 Parliament seats in the state, while the Congress and JDS have bagged one seat each. According to sources, hectic parleys were being held over the last few weeks as JDS is keen on getting a fair share of seats. While the BJP has mooted a 26:4 formula, the JDS is keen on contesting from at least six seats - Mandya, Hassan, Kolar, Tumakuru, Chikkballapur and Bengaluru Rural.
The Congress party which is riding high on popularity owing to the five guarantee (freebies) schemes and aiming for 20 plus seats in the LS polls, is closely watching the developments as the alliance might pose a tough challenge for the Congress, especially in the Vokkaliga belt.
KPCC chief and deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar, responding to the development, said the alliance was expected. "Let them do whatever they want. It is perhaps for their political survival," said Shivakumar. "The JDS will lose their secular tag and they will neither remain a secular party nor become a communal party," said industries minister M.B. Patil.