A day after saffron party veteran B S Yediyurappa claimed that the parties had achieved an accord, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said on Saturday that talks on the BJP and his party running in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections jointly are still in the early stages. The former chief minister said that seat sharing and other issues had not yet been addressed, adding that he values trust and respect more than reciprocity.
These are only the beginning of the talks. For the last several days, I have been reading news in the media on this (understanding).I have seen Yediyurappa’s remarks as a senior leader. He has been complimentary of me, the leader of the JDS, Deve Gowda, and our party. Thank him for his assurance that we would cooperate in the next days, Kumaraswamy added.
Speaking to reporters in this location, he said that the seat sharing and other issues have not yet been addressed. He also stated that a date has not yet been set for his journey to Delhi.
According to media sources, “We are firm on the Mandya seat, what will happen to the MP who now represents that district, what would happen to the Tuamkuru and Kolar seats—all of these have not yet been considered. I beg my media friends to refrain from making any assumptions at this early stage of the dialogue, Kumaraswamy remarked.
He said that the media is portraying things as if an agreement has been reached. However, in my perspective, there is still time since there are still a lot of talks to have. For me, respect and trust are more essential than giving and receiving.
His declaration that “time to respond to all these issues — preliminary discussions regarding alliance, Congress leaders’ statements — is still far” was made during a gathering of party workers that was set for Sunday. In a declaration that raised the political tempo in the State, Yediyurappa announced on Friday that the BJP and the former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) would come to an agreement for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In accordance with the election agreement, the senior politician, who is also a member of the BJP parliamentary board, had said that the JD(S) would run candidates in four of Karnataka’s 28 LS seats. When asked whether Deve Gowda has approved the partnership, Kumaraswamy said that all of these negotiations are in their first stages and that it would become clear in the coming days whether or not the party chief has approved.
He said, “In the interest of the state, at a time when such a bad government is there in the state, certain decisions need to be made,” when asked whether this is a hopeful development. Let’s wait for it; it will take some time. I don’t feel rushed. In the 2019 Lower House elections in Karnataka, the BJP won 25 seats and supported an independent (Sumalatha Ambareesh of Mandya) who won one seat.
Each of the JD(S) and the Congress won one seat.
As both parties were at the time leading an alliance government under Kumaraswamy’s Chief Ministership, JD(S) and the Congress jointly ran for office. The former chief minister said that while he was not stating it and that it was the view of top officials in this government that the Congress administration in Karnataka was already suffering anti-incumbency after more than three months in office.
People do believe that the agreement between the BJP and JDS is excellent, he said. No one is necessary to anybody, neither to him or to the BJP, Kumaraswamy said, adding that the JD(S) has previously run in independent parliamentary elections many times and won two to three seats. The grand old party leaders are now projecting as if something has happened to JD(S) and are challenging its viability after Congress received 135 seats and JD(S) received 19 seats in Assembly elections, he said. I will talk about it in the days to come, but for the moment, I ask Congress leaders to focus on doing excellent job rather than criticizing our party because they are in power and have the support of the public.
He said, “Congress has criticized JD(S) over the development.” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attacked the JD(S) for reaching an agreement with the BJP for the LS elections in 2024, doubting the regional party’s secular credentials and asserting that it has any philosophy and will do everything to get power. With Kumaraswamy serving as the Chief Minister, the JD(S) has previously established coalition administrations with the BJP and Congress for 20 months starting in January 2006 and for 14 months starting in May 2018.
