Janata Dal (Secular) Joins BJP-led NDA Alliance, Former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy Meets Amit Shah

The Janata Dal (Secular) formally joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on Friday as party leader HD Kumaraswamy met union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi.

BJP president JP Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant were also present. After joining the ruling alliance, Kumaraswamy said he spoke to Shah and Nadda about the Cauvery water sharing dispute and held talks about seat sharing in the general elections.

“This was a formal meeting. The seat sharing will be formally discussed in the coming days without any confusion. Right now, the important point is to win all 28 seats in Karnataka. And JD(S) will be supporting the NDA in every way,” he said.

Nadda posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Met former chief minister Karnataka and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy in the presence of our senior leader and home minister Amit Shah. I am happy that JD(S) has decided to be (the) part of National Democratic Alliance. We wholeheartedly welcome them in the NDA…”

Sawant is said to have been instrumental in the regional party joining the NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “…To make NDA stronger, the JD(S) has formally joined the NDA alliance today and I congratulate them for this… The parliamentary board and the JD(S) will decide over the seat sharing…” he told news agency ANI.

He added: “The way Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is doing development work, no party will say no to joining NDA… I also welcome him (JDS). The NDA is going to come to power once again in the upcoming elections. We are going to win all Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka…”

Why the BJP-JD(S) alliance makes sense for 2024?

One of the reasons behind the big win of the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections was the poor performance of the JD(S), which lost its deposits in 139 seats, as per data from the Election Commission of India. This is two-third of the seats it contested from.

The party, founded by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, lost nearly 15 lakh votes in Karnataka as compared to the 2018 polls. Its loss directly translated to a gain for the Congress in the state — about 28 lakh votes in the 2023 election as compared to 2018 while the BJP gained about nine lakh votes.

Next year is a make or break for the JD(S) and, by extension, the Gowda clan. Hence, BJP-JD(S) alliance could prove to be a strong counter to the Congress in Karnataka in 2024.