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BJP and JD(S) will fight together against Congress in Karnataka in future, says Yediyurappa
Kumaraswamy said that it will probably happen by the end of this year or after the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections
Bengaluru
In a major political development, former Karnataka chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday said that his party and the Janata Dal (Secular) JD(S) will fight together against the ruling Congress in Karnataka.
Addressing the media, the BJP strongman supported former chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy’s allegations against the Congress government on the issue of corruption. Kumaraswamy on Monday accused the chief minister’s office (CMO) of demanding bribes for transferring officials.
“Whatever HD Kumaraswamy said is true and I back his statement. We will fight together in future,” Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.
Responding to Yediyurappa’s statement, Kumaraswamy said that it will probably happen by the end of this year or after the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “I don’t want to particularly name anyone. Anything may happen. It will not take too much time. Most probably, it will happen this year-end or after the Parliament election. For that, we will have to wait.”
After its defeat in the state Assembly elections, the JD(S) has been attacking the Congress government of rampant corruption.
Kumaraswamy has alleged that the CMO officials were demanding ₹30 lakh for transfers of officials and an MLA letter alone was not enough for the task. “Recently, an official who was seeking transfer got the letter of the local MLA to the CMO. But the CMO officials said that a recommendation letter alone will not work and that he should get ₹30 lakh along with it for posting. This happened at the CM’s office Krishna,” Kumaraswamy said on Monday.
Attacking the Congress, the JD(S) leader said that “syndicates” in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and sub-registrar’s officers have been formed for this and everyone knows under whose nose these activities are going on, without elaborating. “Let the Congress say as to who the mastermind was for these transfers.”
Earlier on Sunday, Kumaraswamy accused the Congress government of levying a ‘YST’ (Yathindra Siddaramaiah Tax) as bribes in order to transfer officials. “A new tax YST [Yathindra Siddaramaiah Tax] has been introduced by the government,” he chided, in a veiled reference to Siddaramaiah’s son, Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah. Yathindra, who was elected as an MLA from Varuna constituency in 2018, vacated his seat for his father in 2023.
Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai also backed Kumaraswamy’s allegations.
There have been several indications that the JD(S) is once again gravitating towards the BJP. The first indication. The party chief had attended the inauguration of the new Parliament House even as 20 Opposition parties boycotted it.
In June, the speculation gathered steam when JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda hinted that his party might stay away from the anti-BJP Opposition alliance ahead of the 2024 elections, and said that all parties have had associations with the BJP.
“I can analyse in detail about this country’s politics, what is the use? Show me one party which has not associated with the BJP, either directly or indirectly. Show me one party in the whole country, then I will answer,” Gowda had said.
In the state assembly elections, held on 10 May, the Congress secured a thumping victory by winning 135 seats in the 224-member Assembly, while the BJP had to settle for 66 seats. The JD(S) saw its worst-ever performance in over two decades with steep fall in its number of seats from 37 in 2018 to 19 in 2023.
JD(S) and BJP had forged an alliance in 2006, and then as per the talks between the two parties, Kumaraswamy was made the chief minister and Yediyurappa as his deputy, under a 20-month power-sharing formula. However, the coalition did not last long as the JD(S) did not transfer power to BJP and the government collapsed in October 2007.
