Bengaluru: With a two-day conclave of 24 opposition parties underway in Congress-ruled Karnataka, the party maintained that there was no need to extend an invitation to anyone who wants to join ‘secular forces’ — a reference to its former ally, the Janata Dal (Secular).
The coalition of 24 opposition parties that have decided to take on the BJP in the general election next year is yet to extend an invitation to the JD(S) to be a part of the meeting.
This has further fuelled speculation about the possibility of the JD(S) moving closer to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is set to hold its own meeting of allies in New Delhi Tuesday.
“Generally, those who are ready to…those who have the courage to fight against this dictatorial rule…They used (will) to come with us…There is no need for an invitation at all,” Congress national general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal said at a press conference in Bengaluru.
Later in the day, JD(S) chief H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters that the opposition parties did not take the party led by him into account. “Organisers of today’s big opposition meet are under the delusion that the JD(S) is finished…So I haven’t broken my head on whether we got an invite or not.”
Interestingly, a source in the JD(S) pointed out that the two-day conclave of opposition parties is being held at the Taj West End, a five-star hotel in central Bengaluru where Kumaraswamy is said to have a permanent room.
The Congress and the JD(S) combined forces after a fractured verdict in the 2018 Karnataka assembly polls to keep the BJP out of power. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) was appointed chief minister. His swearing-in, held in May 2018 and attended by leaders of at least 15 political parties, was viewed as a major show of strength by the Opposition.
However, the Congress-JD(S) alliance did not last beyond fourteen months.
With the Congress now back in power in Karnataka with a majority of its own, the party is hosting a two-day conclave of the Opposition in Bengaluru to further talks initiated on 23 June this year when leaders of 15 opposition parties met in Patna to discuss the formation of a common front to challenge the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Constituents of this loosely stitched-up alliance include the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Janata Dal (United), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC), J&K Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Shiv Sena (UBT), the Left and the Samajwadi Party (SP), among others.
On Monday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will host a dinner for the ‘alliance’ partners at the Taj West End in Bengaluru which will be attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, along with Lalu Prasad Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray and Akhilesh Yadav.
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‘There is still time’: Kumaraswamy
The Congress and the JD(S) share a tempestuous relationship. Their long-standing rivalry was exacerbated after they were reduced to one seat each in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP, then in power in the state, had managed to win 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka.
In the assembly polls held earlier this year, the JD(S) was reduced to 19 seats in the 224-member assembly, while the Congress bagged 135 and the BJP 66. Analysts say the Congress may have eaten into the vote share of the JD(S) in southern Karnataka’s Old Mysuru region.
Since the JD(S) has allied with both the BJP and Congress in the past to ‘safeguard’ its interests, the possibility of it aligning itself with the BJP-led NDA ahead of the general election next year is not out of the question.
“There is still time. Not that I have an invite from anyone,” Kumaraswamy said Monday in response to a question on whether his party will join the NDA. “I have workers for my party, the people have taken some decisions. which keeps changing each election…Our party has been fighting from the beginning. All discussions are premature since there are eight to nine months for the (2024) elections. We still have to see,” he added.
The JD(S) too is looking at a tough road ahead with Kumaraswamy and his brother, H.D. Revanna, fighting for dominance, leaving their father — former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda (90) — with little control of the party which has played ‘kingmaker’ in the past.
Even for the BJP, differences within its state unit seem to have grown since the assembly polls. For the first time in recent memory, the legislature is without a leader of the Opposition (LoP) owing to differences within the BJP’s state leadership.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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