The images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding the hand of Janata Dal Secular (JDS) supremo H D Devegowda before their “cordial meeting” in Parliament House on November 30 have focused attention on the two parties ahead of a key Vidhan Parishad poll on December 10. Since the JDS split from the Congress in July 2019 – when their alliance government fell apart owing to defections to the BJP – the ruling BJP and the opposition JDS have had a tumultuous relationship in Karnataka. However, with elections for 25 seats in the state legislative council looming, the JDS appears to have abandoned its posture of neutrality toward both the BJP and the Congress and thrown its support behind the ruling BJP.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai declared shortly after the Devegowda-Modi meeting that Devegowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy and former BJP Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa would work out a strategy for a JDS-BJP coalition in the next council elections. On November 4, Kumaraswamy remarked that a JDS-BJP electoral alliance will be determined with the JDS’s long-term objectives in mind, especially the 2023 Assembly elections. The December 10 elections are being held because 15 Congress members, 6 BJP members, and four JDS members would be retiring from the 75-member council in January 2022, with the BJP holding 32 seats, the Congress 29, and the JDS 12. Apart from an independent member and the JDS’s chairman, the council is made up entirely of JDS members.
Read also: Owaisi is trying to become another Jinnah: Subrat Pathak, BJP leader
The fact that the JDS has only fielded candidates in six of the 25 district-wise constituencies – where elected representatives from local bodies will vote for legislative council candidates on a preferential basis – is one of the reasons for the possibility of a JDS-BJP alliance for the council elections. Another reason is that the BJP is anxious to reclaim control of the Upper House (where it now relies on the JDS to enact legislation) and wants to guarantee that the Congress (which has 15 seats at stake compared to the BJP’s 6 and the JDS’s 4) loses considerable ground. “There are candidates from all three parties in six constituencies where we have fielded candidates.” We can’t expect the BJP to back our candidate. In other locations, the Congress and the BJP are fighting, and Kumaraswamy stated, “JDS will decide on these constituencies with the future in mind.”
The BJP’s chances in Karnataka ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections are considered as being harmed if it fails to win a significant number of seats. According to him, the coalition formed by party leaders may not work on the ground in some regions. “The JDS is making an opportunistic move by forming an alliance with the BJP, but the BJP will only accept the offer if it is certain that the coalition would help it win a certain seat,” he added.
The partnership between the JDS and the BJP in Karnataka is not new, but it is more overt this time, ahead of the December 10 polls. Devegowda and Modi have had a long and amicable connection, with the two frequently greeting one other on social media on significant occasions. Despite Devegowda’s insistence on retaining JDS’s independence, the party has recently aided the BJP tactically, particularly in securing control of Karnataka’s state legislative council and aiding the approval of BJP-backed measures.
In February of this year, the JDS backed the removal of Congress council chairman K Prathapchandra Shetty and allowed the election of BJP deputy chairman M K Pranesh in exchange for a JDS candidate, Basavaraj Horatti, being appointed council chairman. The BJP pushed the contentious Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020, through the legislative council in a tactical manoeuvre shortly after its MLC was elected deputy chairman (a day before JDS’s Horatti was elected council chairman). With the presence of a former Janata Parivar leader in the chief minister’s chair, CM Bommai made a courtesy call to Devegowda’s residence in July, sparking speculation that the JDS was edging closer to the BJP.
Read also: Delhi BJP demands VAT reduction on diesel
Kumaraswamy was accused by farmer groups of abandoning the cause of farmers, a core constituency of the party, shortly after the JDS backed the BJP in passing the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in the legislative council, removing restrictions that allowed farm land to be purchased only by agriculturists. Despite rumours that the JDS might unite with the ruling BJP in December, Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa claimed “the parties are prepared to cooperate with each other.”
