With the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka under enormous strain, former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda on Thursday issued a strict warning to his alliance partner not to take his regional party for granted.
“Six non-NDA parties may have attended the swearing-in ceremony of H D Kumaraswamy as chief minister to present a united opposition, but it is not necessary that they will contest together in all states in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” Gowda told reporters in New Delhi.
In a historic show of unity, top leaders of the Congress and leaders of TMC, BSP, AAP, CPM as well as TDP had taken part in the oath-taking ceremony of Kumaraswamy in May after the Karnataka elections.
Gowda said the Samajwadi Party and BSP are still in the process of discussing sharing of 40 seats each in the general elections in Uttar Pradesh. In West Bengal, TMC and Congress have almost taken a stand to contest the elections together. But in other states, including NCP in Maharashtra, TDP in Andhra Pradesh and TRS in Telangana, the parties are yet to take any such concrete decision.
“Only in Karnataka, we have decided to fight with the Congress, despite having small differences. So far, there hasn’t been any discussion on this issue. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Kumaraswamy will discuss and finalise and I will also meet some non-NDA leaders in the coming days to apprise them, “ he said.
In the same statement, Gowda also informed of a Lok Sabha seat for its alliance partner BSP. “We have decided to give away one parliamentary seat in Karnataka to BSP. In return, I will ask BSP to give one seat in Uttar Pradesh to K Danish Ali (JD(S) secretary general). In Kerala, LDF will give one seat to us,” he stated.
The JD(S) leader also made it clear to the reporters that he was not in New Delhi to meet Congress leaders and complain against former CM and Congress-JD(S) coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah, but to attend a parliamentary meeting.
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