JD(S) Announce Alliance With BJP-Led NDA (image:twitter.com/Jagat Prakash Nadda)
In view of upcoming General Elections 2024, the Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) officially announced their alliance with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday. The announcement was made after Senior JD(S) leader and former chief minister of Karnataka H D Kumaraswamy met Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda in New Delhi. Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant was also present during the meeting.
Mr. Nadda on his official page on X welcomed JD(S) to their union. He wrote: “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 @narendramodi Ji for “New India, Strong India.”
Met Former Chief Minister of Karnataka and JD(S) leader Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy in the presence of our senior leader and Home Minister Shri @AmitShah Ji.
I am happy that JD(S) has decided to be the part of National Democratic Alliance. We wholeheartedly welcome them in the NDA.… pic.twitter.com/eRDUdCwLJc— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) September 22, 2023
After meeting Union Minister and BJP Chief, Mr. Kumaraswamy responded to reporters that “Today formally we discussed about joining hands with the BJP; by joining NDA as a partner. We”ve discussed the preliminary issues formally… There is no demand (from our side).”
In July this year, JD(S) Chief and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda had dismissed the possibility of alliance between his party and BJP. He asserted in a press conference that his party will fight 2024 parliamentary election alone.
“JDS will never sink…We will fight for Parliament elections independently and will not take any help from any party. Let me be very clear. There is no question of aligning with anybody, we will fight the battle independently on our own” livemint reports.
When reporters asked on Friday about the seat-sharing between JD(S) and BJP, Mr. Gowda responded that Mr. Kumaraswamy will discuss the matter. “”The matter is not with me. It is Kumaraswamy who is going to meet the Home Minister. He will discuss,” ET reports.
JD(S) and BJP shares a history of forming government in 2007, but it fell down after 20 months. In the last general election, i.e., in 2019, JD(S) joined hands with Congress but failed miserably in opposition to BJP. BJP had won 25 of the 28 seats.
