BJP-JDS forge pre-poll alliance for Lok Sabha Elections
Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah has agreed to give four Lok Sabha seats to JDS, which will give the party a big push to win 25 or 26 seats together, he told reporters here.
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday confirmed a pre-poll alliance between BJP and JDS to fight Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah has agreed to give four Lok Sabha seats to JDS, which will give the party a big push to win 25 or 26 seats together, he told reporters here.
Political circles in the state are agog with a clandestine meeting between JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda and Shah in Delhi where it is speculated that the issue of tieup was discussed.
It is also being said that former Chief Minister and senior JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy was approached by the BJP soon after the assembly elections in May 2023.
There is no clarity on the seats that have been offered to JDS by the BJP. It is learnt that the JDS would be offered Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Hassan seats.
However, a section of political experts are claiming that the BJP is ready to give the Mandya seat to JDS. Mandya is represented by Sumalatha Amabareesh who won the seat in 2019 as an independent, but extended support to the BJP ahead of May 2023 assembly elections.
Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel told reporters in Mangaluru that the alliance would boost the party’s election prospects. Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai too said that such an alliance was necessary as of now.
Both the parties have been fighting the policies of Congress government in the recently held assembly session.
The JDS however has not yet made any comments on Yediyurappa’s revelations.
In the previous Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 25 out of 28 seats, while an Independent supported by the party won one seat. The Congress and JDS bagged one seat each.
The tieup is a very significant development for JDS, which is fighting for its survival after a massive rout in the 2023 assembly election.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar welcomed the BJP-JDS alliance, but doubted whether the regional party would retain its ideology thereafter.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he is not bothered about the BJP and JDS tie up.
Senior Congress leader and Minister MB Patil said Congress would win a minimum of 20 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, despite BJP and JDS coming together.
