BJP may go it alone in Karnataka

He said the state unit was strongly opposed to having any tie-up with Janata Dal in Karnataka since that party is “discredited and has no relevance in the state”. The state leaders were of the firm view that BJP and Lok Shakti combination could, on their own, achieve a majority in the Assembly Elections and a greater number of seats in Lok Sabha.

On the party’s stand regarding the merger’ of Lok Shakti and Samata Party with Janata Dal, he said the BJP’s views would be made known at the meeting of the coordination committee of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) scheduled to be held on July 31.

“Propriety demanded that Lok Shakti and Samata Party should have discussed the proposed merger with Janata Dal at the coordination committee meeting before taking the step,” he said.

On the entry of the proposed new formation of Janata Dal into the NDA, Mathur said it was for the NDA to decide its relationship with this new formation.

Asked what the BJP’s stand would be in case the new formation were to contest on the JD symbol in the coming Lok Sabha polls, he said “if they contest on JD symbol then it is a separate party and we would have to deal with it as a different entity”.

On the question of seat sharing with its allies in the coming elections, he said, “we would follow the same formula which we had evolved for the 1998 elections. However, in the case of seat sharing, we have left it to the state units”.