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Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda confirmed on Sunday, September 10, that discussions had taken place between his party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding a potential alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. Deve Gowda said no final agreement on seat-sharing had been reached, and the decision regarding seat allocation would ultimately be made by his son, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The JD(S) has not fared too well in the past few elections. While it won 19 seats in the recently concluded Assembly polls, it managed to win just one seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha and two seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha. JD(S)’s performance during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was poor even though they were in a pre-poll alliance with Congress, which also managed to win only one seat.
Speaking on the alliance, Ramakrishna Hegde Chair Professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Change, Chandan Gowda, said, “It appears that the JD(S) has done a cost-benefit analysis. They are banking on BJP’s Hindutva votes to make up for the loss of the Muslim votes, which have now moved to the Congress. There are not many BJP votes in a place like Mandya, so JD(S) will fight on its own strength there. But it does matter in places like Hassan and Kolar where there are sizeable BJP votes.”
He added that a tie-up with the BJP would prove tough for JD(S) MLAs whose primary opponent in the recent elections was a BJP candidate. “JD(S) is not being ambitious, it is being realistic. Out of 28 seats, asking for five seats in the areas of their strongholds is hardly ambitious,” he said.
The JD(S) and BJP are hoping that their combined vote share will help them in at least five or six seats. The JD(S) secured a vote share of 9.74% in 2019 and 11% in 2014, while the BJP had secured 51.75% and 43% respectively. It is very important for the BJP, which won 25 seats in 2019, to not lose too many votes, especially as the INDIA alliance seems to have cobbled up a large vote base. Other than the Old Mysore region, which consists of eight Lok Sabha seats, the JD(S) has some presence in some seats in Bengaluru and pockets of coastal Karnataka. In the 2023 Assembly elections, JD(S) lost a lot of vote share in the Old Mysore region and the Congress gained almost 7% more vote share in this region.
During a meeting with JD(S) party members in Bengaluru, Deve Gowda stated, "I did indeed contact BJP leaders in Delhi, not with the intention of becoming Prime Minister again. My objective was to safeguard this regional party that I have nurtured for 40 years. Yes, I met Modi when BJP leaders themselves expressed a desire to meet me. It is true that I had discussions with them, but I did not request any specific number of seats."
Speaking at the same gathering of party leaders in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy said that the alliance signified a new political phase aimed at countering the Congress party's influence in the state to counter the grand old party. He stated, "We have made this decision to curb the ego of Congress members."
Veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa had recently indicated the possibility of BJP potentially conceding four out of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats to the JD(S).
