JD (S) was formed by HD Deve Gowda, who served as the Prime Minister from June 1996 to April 1997. It performed badly in the recent elections in Karnataka
Our Bureau
New Delhi/Bengaluru/Chennai
In a major development, the Janata Dal (Secular) formally joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday as Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
BJP President JP Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant were also present during the meeting.
Former Prime Minister and JD (S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy met BJP President JP Nadda and Amit Shah in the Parliament on Thursday. There were talks within Karnataka’s political circles for the past few months that the JD(S) could ally with the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The JD(S) had aligned with the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls; however, the parties faced a drubbing as the BJP swept 25 out of the 28 seats in Karnataka and even an independent candidate supported by the BJP won from the Mandya constituency.
The JD(S) has allied with both the BJP and the Congress in the state.
Though the JD(S) won 19 seats in the recent Assembly polls that were held in May, it was the party’s worst performance in history. Notably, the party was not invited either to the NDA meeting in Delhi or to the meeting of the Opposition- INDIA bloc in Bengaluru in July.
In a post on the micro-blogging site, Amit Shah said “their association will lead Karnataka on the path of development and pave the way for a stronger NDA and a stronger India.”
Nadda has also made the announcement on ‘X’ that JD (S) is now part of the NDA.
“I am happy that JD(S) has decided to be the part of National Democratic Alliance. We wholeheartedly welcome them in the NDA. This will further strengthen NDA and vision of Hon PM Narendra Modi Ji for “New India, Strong India”,” Nadda said in a post on ‘X’.
Talks of alliance between the two parties have been in the limelight in the past few weeks, especially after veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa, who is also a parliamentary board member of the party, had earlier this month said his party will have an “understanding” with JD(S) for the Lok Sabha elections. The move of the JD (S) to be part of the BJP-led NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 is a significant move.
JD (S) was formed by HD Deve Gowda, who served as the Prime Minister of India from June 1996 to April 1997. Kumaraswamy, his son, met JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Shah in the national capital.
Things are hotting up in southern politics.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has said the only agenda of the Congress was to win the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections while also helping the Opposition bloc — INDIA — of which it is also a part, prevail over the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Hyderabad on Sunday, Shivakumar said, “Our only agenda is to win the Telangana (Assembly) elections and help INDIA emerge victorious in the next general elections. There is no other agenda at this point.”
Meanwhile, in a scathing attack against the Opposition’s INDIA coalition and the DMK party, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, K Annamalai, on Saturday said that they are “desperate to win” the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He further slammed the INDIA bloc over the recent controversies regarding the Anti-Sanatan Dharma and Ramacharitmanas issues and said that each leader is continuously “competing with each other” to insult the Hindu religion.
“After facing a massive backlash from our country, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mk Stalin has conveniently given out a statement saying that nobody in DMK should talk about Sanatan Dharma any further as BJP is trying to twist their comments for political gains,” Annamalai said in a video released through his official handle on social media platform, X. He alleged that the INDIA bloc has joined together for “selfish gains and petty political reasons”.
Annamalai said that the country is going through a great transition right now adding it is going to propel it to great heights.
