It has been rumoured that Janata Dal (Secular) will be fighting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP. The two parties recently received a drubbing at the hands of the Congress party in the Karnataka Assembly elections. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are believed to have given feelers to the JD(S) that they want to be in alliance with the regional party for 2024.
But former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda today delivered a shock to the BJP. He said that his party will be fighting independently. It won't be in alliance with either BJP or Congress.
JD(S) feels that it is strong in about 2-5 LS seats out of Karnataka's 28 seats. A division of the Hindu vote might result in the Congress party benefiting.
That said, in the best case scenario, a huge Modi wave (if it exists in 2024) will ensure that the Hindu vote won't get divided. Whatever the future might hold, Gowda's statement of today must be seen as a twist.
Some analysts might want to believe that, in the future, a JD(S)-BJP alliance could still come through if the Siddaramaiah government and Rahul Gandhi turn out to be popular in Karnataka.
