New Delhi: The Janata Dal (Secular) formally joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday following a meeting between former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy and BJP president Jagar Prakash Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Goa CM Pramod Sawant was also present during the meeting. Speaking to reporters, Kumaraswamy said, “Today we formally discussed joining hands with the BJP. We've discussed the preliminary issues formally...There is no demand (from our side).’’
Welcoming JD(S) into the NDA fold, Nadda said, “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 the vision of Honourable PM Narendra Modi Ji for “New India, Strong India”.
#WATCH | Former Karnataka CM and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy meets Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. JDS to formally join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
BJP President JP Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant are also present during the meeting. pic.twitter.com/7SpdnoWFSJ
— ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2023
It may be noted former Prime Minister and JD (S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy had reportedly met Nadda and 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 in Karnataka that were held in May, it was the party’s worst performance in history.
Kumaraswamy’s party was also not invited either to the NDA meeting in Delhi or to the meeting of the Opposition-led INDIA bloc in Bengaluru in July. The JD(S) had formed governments in coalition with the BJP for 20 months from January 2006, and with the Congress for 14 months from May 2018, with Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister.
