JDS Ready To Ally With BJP Or Congress, But Conditions Apply

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy on Friday hinted that his party was open for alliance with either Congress or BJP in the event of a hung Assembly but put riders to tie up with them.

Majority of the exit polls have given an edge to Congress over the ruling BJP while indicating the possibility of a hung Assembly in the State as none of the parties would be able to touch the magic mark of 113 seats, required to form government on their own.

"I am confident of my party winning nearly 50 seats and ready to form an alliance with any party that agrees to fulfill my conditions," Kumaraswamy told Deccan Herald. His conditions emanated from the hurdles he faced when he became the Chief Minister twice under coalition arrangement, once each with BJP and Congress.

'Terms' on offer

• The Chief Minister should have a free hand to run the government.
• JDS lawmakers should be given plum portfolios like Home, Public Works, Power and Water Resources.
• The coalition partner should allow him to implement promises made in the JDS manifesto.
• Kumaraswamy has said a clear 'no' to a coalition coordination committee, a mechanism that was set up in 2018 when he joined hands with Congress.
• He also wants his coalition partner to stay away from JDS territories like Mandya and Hassan.
• Discussion should be allowed in taking any decision related to ideology-related issues.

Since its formation in 1999, JDS has never formed a government on its own but allied for 20 months with BJP from February 2006 and for 14 months with Congress from May 2018, with Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister both times.

This election, the party has set an ambitious target of 130. The regional party's best-ever performance so far has been in the 2004 assembly elections when it won 58 seats while winning 40 seats in 2013 was its second best.

The biggest problem for JDS, which is likely to play kingmaker in the case of a hung House this time, is to keep its flock together and ensure that all its elected MLAs remain loyal to it in the face of the both the national parties trying to poach them. The regional party would be looking for a 2018-like scenario where it could play the kingmaker.