Ahead of key NDA meet, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy heads to Delhi

Apart from Kumaraswamy, Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, and Eknath Shinde are also on their way to Delhi to attend the NDA meeting.

H D Kumaraswamy in delhi, NDA meeting, lok sabha elections 2024, indian express

H D Kumaraswamy is being considered a favourite to bag a Cabinet berth if the NDA forms the government at the Centre. (FB)

Ahead of the scheduled meeting of the constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy, who was elected from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, left for Delhi on Wednesday.

The Janata Dal(Secular), which allied with the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Karnataka, won two seats in the results announced on Tuesday. The regional party, which contested from three Lok Sabha seats, lost its bastion of Hassan, where sitting MP Prajwal Revanna, accused of rape and sexual assault, lost to Congress candidate Shreyas Patel. Apart from Mandya, the party also won from Kolar.

Kumaraswamy is being considered a favourite to bag a Cabinet berth if the NDA forms the government at the Centre.

Kumaraswamy is among a bevvy of NDA leaders, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)’s N Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal(United), and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, who are on their way to Delhi to attend the meeting of the alliance to discuss the next course of action. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won only 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, falling short of a simple majority by 32 seats, and is now relying on its allies to form the government.

His visit to Delhi came a day after JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda said he found a similarity in the wins secured by Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP in Andhra Pradesh in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and him in 1996.

Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the NDA secured a majority in the Lok Sabha elections, Gowda said in a post on X that Naidu’s “victory reminded me of 1996 when I formed the government.”

Deve Gowda was referring to his election as PM by the United Front in 1996 after the then-undivided Janata Dal secured 18 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

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The TDP has secured 16 seats in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ceded three seats to the JD(S). The coalition also helped the BJP secure a large number of seats in Lok Sabha segments in South Karnataka where the JD(S) has a strong presence.

Meanwhile, the Opposition INDIA bloc, which won 232 seats, will also hold a meeting in Delhi.

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