- Janata Dal (Secular) national president HD Deve Gowda ruled out the possibility of forming any alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
- Gowda’s statement comes at a time when his own son, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, has been dropping hints of a possible alliance between the JD(S) and the BJP.
- The JD(S) received the biggest drubbing in this year’s assembly elections, winning just 19 seats as against 37 in 2018.
- Political analysts point out that the JD(S) and BJP have shared a good working relationship, providing assistance to each other.
- The JD(S) holds a unique position as the only party to ally with both the BJP and Congress in Karnataka, earning them the monikers of “kingmaker” and “opportunistic”.
- One analyst speculated that the BJP might be thinking of the JD(S) as useful for the short-term goal, until the 2024 elections, but then may “discard” it.
Janata Dal (Secular) national president HD Deve Gowda categorically ruled out the possibility of forming any alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday, putting an end to weeks of speculation regarding a potential tie-up in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The former Prime Minister added that the JD(S) will contest as many seats as it possibly can in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Gowda’s statement comes at a time when his own son, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, has been dropping hints of a possible alliance between the JD(S) and the BJP. While there have also been rumors about a possible merger of the regional party with the BJP, senior JD(S) leaders have dismissed these claims.
Kumaraswamy has sided with the BJP in Karnataka over the last two weeks to corner the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government over issues like corruption and the behaviour of the Speaker during the budget session of the state legislature. The two parties have been trying to join forces to keep the Congress in check in the lower house, or legislative assembly. In the upper house or legislative council, the BJP and JD(S) have the numbers to control the passage of bills.
Since the elections, the infighting in the BJP has intensified and the central leadership has refocused its energies to other poll-bound states such as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The JD(S) received the biggest drubbing in this year’s assembly elections, winning just 19 seats as against 37 in 2018, and losing nearly 6 percent of its vote share to the Congress.
Political analysts point out that the JD(S) and BJP have shared a good working relationship, providing assistance to each other in areas where only one of them stands a chance against the Congress.
The Congress and JD(S), on the other hand, share a turbulent relationship. The two parties formed an alliance after the 2018 assembly elections to prevent the BJP from coming to power. In the following year’s national elections, the JD(S) and Congress extended their state-level alliance, but they were dealt a blow as they were reduced to just one seat each, while the BJP bagged 25 out of the total 28 seats in the state.
The JD(S) holds a unique position as the only party to ally with both the BJP and Congress in Karnataka, earning them the monikers of “kingmaker” and “opportunistic”.
Analysts say that the JD(S) stands to benefit more from any possible tie-up with the BJP even though the latter stands to gain too in terms of making inroads in the old Mysuru region. Requesting anonymity, one analyst speculated that the BJP might be thinking of the JD(S) as useful for the short-term goal, until the 2024 elections, but then may “discard” it.
(With inputs from agencies)
