B S Yediyurappa confirms BJP-JD(S) alliance for Lok Sabha polls

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday confirmed that the BJP and JD(S) would enter into an alliance to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together, a big political move that the Congress is watching closely.

Yediyurappa’s statement is the first formal confirmation on the BJP-JD(S) alliance that has been speculated ever since Congress registered a landslide victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls.

“I’m happy that there’ll be a BJP-JD(S) understanding,” Yediyurappa said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has agreed to give four seats to the JD(S) under the alliance, Yediyurappa said. “This gives us strength. It will help win 25-26 Lok Sabha seats together,” he said.

There is no clarity on the four seats that the BJP will concede to the JD(S). For now, it looks like the JD(S) may get Mandya, Kolar, Tumkur and Hassan Lok Sabha seats.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP swept Karnataka by winning 25 out of 28 seats. Then, the JD(S) was in an alliance with Congress. While Congress contested from 21 seats, JD(S) fought in seven. Both parties won just one seat each.

After the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election, the JD(S) is in a precarious condition, fighting for survival. Seemingly, the alliance with the BJP is to help keep the regional party afloat.

JD(S) core committee chief GT Devegowda underlined the need for his party to survive. He said party workers and leaders have asked JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda to go for an alliance with the BJP.

“Everyone in our party has just one thing to say: we are unable to tolerate the oppression by Congress,” Devegowda, a former minister, said in Mysuru. “Party workers and leaders are up in arms. There’s pressure on us...All of them have said we should have an alliance...that we must fight with the BJP and we must defeat Congress,” he said.

However, Devegowda said any decision on allying with the BJP needs consensus. “Mere seat-sharing won’t do...There must be clear deliverables for us,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar welcomed the BJP-JD(S) alliance. “But after the alliance, how will the JD(S) retain its ideology? We don’t know if the party will survive or not. I’m not against their alliance. All the best to them,” he said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he is not bothered about whether or not the BJP and JD(S) have an alliance. “We will ask people for votes. People are in our favour,” he said.