BJP-JD(S) alliance for LS polls under discussion; final decision by Modi & Shah: Yediyurappa

The decision on seat-sharing is left to the central leaders, he said adding that he neither has any say in this matter nor will offer any suggestion.

New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday said discussions are still underway on the party joining hands with JD(S) in Karnataka for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the central leaders will take a final call.

The statement is a marked dilution of his earlier assertion that both parties have already finalised their alliance for the elections next year and the BJP central leadership has agreed to give the regional party four seats.

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Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Yediyurappa said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party’s central leadership will decide on the alliance.

“We do not know what’s in the mind of Modiji and Amit Shahji… The discussions are still underway,” he said.

The decision on seat-sharing is left to the central leaders, he said adding that he neither has any say in this matter nor will offer any suggestion.

Yediyurappa – former chief minister of Karnataka and member of the BJP Parliamentary Board – is in the national capital to attend the Central Election Committee meeting to review the poll preparedness for the upcoming assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

On September 8, Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru, “I am happy that Deve Gowda ji met our prime minister and they have already finalised about 4 seats. I welcome it… .” His comments had led to a flutter in state politics with JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy claiming that no such development has taken place.

In an apparent attempt to put a lid on the row, Yediyurappa on Wednesday clarified that he was “factually incorrect” in his previous assertion, stressing that the BJP leadership will take the final call on the possible alliance.

He further said that the aim is to win 25-26 LS seats in Karnataka and for this district workers’ meetings will be held across the state.

Yediyurappa said he would request the party’s central leadership to appoint at the earliest the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly and the party’s new state president.

On the opposition forming the INDIA coalition for the LS polls, he said, “In front of Modi, they are zero. We will get an absolute majority. We got last time and will get the same number of seats in 2024. Modi will be the prime minister again.”