"No Alliance Yet, High Command To Take Call": BJP Leader On JDS

Amid speculation of an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year, BJP leader R Ashoka clarified on Friday that the tie-up hadn't been finalised yet as the final call rests with the party's high command.

Speaking to ANI on Friday, Mr Ashoka said, "There is no formal alliance yet with any party. The final decision on the same rests with our top leadership. However, in line with the agenda of our central leadership, the BJP and the JDS will come together to fight against the Congress (in the Lok Sabha elections and the upcoming local body polls in Karnataka). Till now, we have not received any official communication from the high command (on the alliance)."

Earlier on Friday, former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa claimed that the BJP and the JDS had secured a tie-up for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

According to the BJP leader, the two parties reached a broad understanding on contesting next year's Lok Sabha elections and the upcoming local body polls together.

"I am happy that Deve Gowda-ji met Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and arrived at an understanding for four (Lok Sabha) seats. I welcome the coming together of our two parties," Mr Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.

Mocking the BJP over its poll tie-up with the JDS, Congress MLC Jagdish Shettar said it represents the coming together of two 'helpless' parties desperate for an alliance.

"The BJP and the JDS are at liberty to form an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. They were in talks for an alliance before the Assembly elections but nothing came of it. Now, there are reports that may be coming together for the Lok Sabha elections. Such alliances of convenience between parties only corrode the electoral trust that voters repose in them. The credibility of such parties is also called into question," Mr Shettar said.

On Wednesday, top JDS leaders went into a huddle in Bengaluru, at the residence of former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, to gauge the sense of MLAs and senior party leaders on an alliance with the BJP. 

The meeting took place in the presence of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.

For the JDS, which won a paltry 19 seats in the Assembly elections earlier this year and was struggling to retain its cadre, the electoral tie-up has come as a shot in the arm. The BJP, which draws electoral support from the influential Lingayat community in Karnataka, will now hope to tap into the JDS vote base - the Vokkaligas - which is the other prominent community in the state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)