NEW DELHI: Former Karnataka CM and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Friday. The JD(S) has also formally joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). BJP national president J P Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant and Nikhil Kumaraswamy were also present during the meeting.
After the meeting, Kumaraswamy said, “Today, we formally discussed about joining hands with the BJP. We’ve discussed the preliminary issues formally…There is no demand (from our side).”
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday welcomed Karnataka’s Janata Dal (Secular) in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) family, saying the party has “decided to be a part of the NDA expressing their trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India.
Shah took to ‘X’, formerly Twitter, and welcomed the move of JD(S) to join the NDA following a meeting Kumaraswamy.
“Met former Karnataka CM and JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy Ji along with BJP President Shri @JPNadda Ji. Expressing their trust in PM @narendramodi Ji’s vision of a developed India, the JD(S) has decided to be a part of the NDA. I warmly welcome JD(S) to the NDA family”, Shah posted on ‘X’.
In another post on the micro-blogging site, the Minister 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 B S 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. The JD(S) was formed by H D Deve Gowda, who served as the Prime inister of India from June 1996 to April 1997.
Former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy reportedly met BJP president JP Nadda and Amit Shah in 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 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka and even independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, 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.