JDS-BJP alliance official; essential to save party, says Deve Gowda

The former PM says the alliance ‘does not mean the JD(S) has nothing left’ and that ‘even the BJP shouldn’t think so’.

Bengaluru | Updated: September 11, 2023 07:10 AM IST

2 min read

This will be the second consecutive Lok Sabha polls where the JD(S) has agreed to a seat-sharing formula with a national party. In 2019, the party had a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress but it helped neither party. (PTI)

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The Janata Dal (Secular) Sunday made its alliance with BJP official at a party workers’ meeting attended by JD(S) chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.

Gowda said Kumaraswamy will hold talks with BJP national leaders in the coming days in which a seat-sharing pact for the 2024 general elections will be discussed. The decision to ally with BJP, he said, was “essential” to “save” the regional party in the state.

The announcement came days after former CM and BJP Parliamentary Board member B S Yediyurappa said the two parties would fight the Lok Sabha polls together.

Also read | Former PM Deve Gowda forms JD(S) core committee to draw action plan for LS elections

At the meeting, Gowda said that there was no need to speculate on the seats JD(S) would contest and that both parties have their respective strongholds where they could back each other. He also indicated that the party could cede some seats to the BJP even in the South Karnataka region where JD(S) has a strong presence.

The alliance, he said, “does not mean that JD(S) has nothing left. Even the BJP should not think so.” BJP can win in constituencies such as Vijayapura, Raichur and Chikkamagaluru only if JD(S) backs the BJP, he said.

Gowda claimed that CM Siddaramaiah was conspiring to end JD(S) in order to avenge the defeat he suffered in 2018 against JD(S) candidate G T Devegowda, and for the developments that forced JD(S) to expel him in 2005.

About his meeting with PM Narendra Modi, Gowda said he had not placed any demand for the number of seats the party wanted to contest from. “I explained to the PM the situation in each constituency,” he said.

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This is the second consecutive Lok Sabha election in which JD(S) has adopted a seat-sharing formula with a national party. In 2019, JD(S) and Congress had a seat-sharing agreement which helped neither.

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Bharatiya Janata Party Deve Gowda JD(S)