Karnataka alliance likely to boost NDA; BJP may offer four seats to JDS
The saffron party hopes the alliance will help create a positive public perception about the NDA gaining in strength and stem desertions from its rank
Continuing with its plan to expand and strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in April–May 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has stitched an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) in Karnataka. However, the alliance is mostly seen as creating a perception among party cadre and electorate that the NDA is gaining strength.
BJP leaders say that the issue of seat sharing would be taken up for discussion closer to the Lok Sabha elections, but the JD(S) would only get 4–5 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 28 seats in the state.
The decision of the two parties to join hands against the Congress in Karnataka does not come as a surprise, as former prime minister HD Deve Gowda met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month to finalise the alliance.
The ‘anti-Congress alliance’ in Karnataka comes four months after Assembly elections in May this year, where Congress won 135 out of the 224 assembly seats, winning 60 per cent of the constituencies.
Sacrificing seats for JD(S)
Senior BJP leaders say that the coming together of the two parties became imminent in Karnataka because some senior Congress and JD(S) leaders in Karnataka who had switched sides and helped the BJP form government in 2019 are now planning to return to the Congress. “With the BJP-JD(S alliance, there will be a general feeling among people that the NDA is becoming stronger before the elections. This perception will help us stop people from leaving the party and also prepare both parties for the Lok Sabha polls,” said a senior BJP leader.
The ruling BJP has decided to give up some of its Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka to accommodate JD(S).
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP had won 25 out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state with a total vote share of 51 percent. During the 2014 Lok Sabha, too, the BJP secured 17. The performance of the BJP in Karnataka was instrumental in increasing the number of seats the BJP secured in the 2019 general elections.
Hoping to improve chances in Karnataka
“We have been trying to bring JD(S) into the NDA for some time now. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant played a crucial role in forging the alliance between the two parties. The fact is that JD(S) is facing a difficult situation in Karnataka, and it is a matter of survival for the party,” said the BJP leader.
Among the Lok Sabha seats where JDS has expressed its interest are Hassan, Mandya, Tumkur, and Bengaluru Rural.
“The importance of the alliance can be understood from the fact that the BJP won 25 out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, but this time we are willing to give up 4–5 seats to the JD(S). It means that the BJP will contest fewer seats. We are hoping that this alliance will help the BJP–NDA combine retain its Lok Sabha count in Karnataka during the 2024 polls,” the BJP leader said.
“This is a good move to suggest that the NDA is growing and it will create the perception that the BJP–NDA combine is better prepared for elections, but the fact is that the BJP leadership is giving up its own seats and is accommodating JD(S). The Lok Sabha 2024 elections will be a test to see if the two parties can transfer their voteS,” said Jai Mrug, a Mumbai-based political analyst.
