The seat-sharing formula between the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections will be hammered out after the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22, and the date for the regional party to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will also be announced.
After about 45 minutes of discussion between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday evening, the JD(S) said the two leaders discussed seat-sharing and the current political development in the State. The meeting took place at Mr. Shah’s residence, and the former Chief Minister was accompanied by his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy and former Rajya Sabha member Kupendra Reddy.
“I discussed many issues with the Home Minister openly. The NDA should win the parliamentary elections and Narendra Modi should become the Prime Minister again. We discussed the BJP and the JD(S) jointly working to make this happen,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said.
To meet Nadda
Mr. Kumaraswamy will meet the BJP president J.P. Nadda to formalise JD(S) joining the NDA as well as finalising the seat-sharing, the statement said. Mr. Kumaraswamy is learnt to have briefed the alleged failure of the Congress in handling the drought in Karnataka and travails of people because of it.
Mr. Kumaraswamy, who will accompany his parents — the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Chennamma — to the consecration ceremony, had earlier announced that the discussions would take place after Makara Sankranti. Ahead of the meeting, several BJP leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok, BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra, the former Ministers C.T. Ravi, C.P. Yogeshwar, and K. Sudhakar, among others, had met Mr. Kumaraswamy to discuss local political dynamics over the last few weeks.
