BJP, JDS Join Hands In Karnataka Ahead Of 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to join hands with the JDS in Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had recently met BJP Chief JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to discuss over the alliance in Karnataka.

Reportedly, Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy had placed the proposal of seeking 5 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after discussions with all the JD(S) stakeholders.

The five Lok Sabha seats demanded by the JD(S) include Mandya, Hassan, Tumakuru, Chickballapur, and Bengaluru Rural.

This comes after the Deve Gowda claimed that the JDS would fight the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka independently without any tie up with the BJP-led NDA in the recent past.

"Whether we (the party) win five, six, three, two or one seats, we will fight the Lok Sabha elections independently", Deve Gowda was quoted saying.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa has informed that the Modi-led BJP and the JDS have finalised four seats in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state.

While addressing the media over the alliance of BJP and JDS in Karnataka, BJP leader Yediyurappa said, "I am happy that Deve Gowda ji met our Prime Minister and they have already finalised about 4 seats. I welcome them."

Karnataka has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 25 seats, while a party-backed candidate also emerged victorious. The Congress and JD(S) secured one seat each. In the JDS bastion of Hassan, Deve Gowda's grand-son Prajwal Revanna had won.

Deve Gowda will not be able to attend the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi owing to his health issues. However, he extended his support to the Centre for such an initiative. He also said that he has communicated his decision to the government and wished the G20 Summit a grand success.

"I will not be attending the G20 dinner organised by the Hon. President of India Draupadi Murmuji, on 09 September 2023, due to health reasons. I have already communicated this to the government. I wish the G20 summit a grand success," the Janata Dal (Secular) president wrote on X, formerly Twitter.