Karnataka’s ex-chief minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa on Sunday expressed confidence in Janata Dal (Secular) or JD (S) to support the saffron party in the upcoming MLC elections on December 10.
“Wherever JD(S) does not have a candidate, I have confidence that they will support us and for this – I request both (HD) Deve Gowda and (HD) Kumaraswamy,” Yediyurappa said in Belagavi on Sunday.
However, Kumaraswamy denied receiving any proposal. “There is no such proposal in front of me, when it does come, we will think about it,” Kumaraswamy said on Sunday.
The statement fuelled speculations of the growing proximity between the BJP and the JD(S). Congress continues to attack the JD(S), terming JD(S) ‘B-Team’ of the BJP for providing tacit support to the saffron party.
Defection to the BJP has been a worrying factor for the JD(S) as their presence in the old Mysuru region is being threatened due to a large number of leaders switching sides. The BJP had engineered defections in 2019 that led to the collapse of extremely turbulent 14 months of the Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-Congress alliance that was stitched up to deny BJP a chance at forming government.
The JD(S) are trying to survive the onslaught of both parties – the BJP and the Congress – by siding with the one they think is a lesser threat in the Old Mysuru region where Congress has a better foothold than the other, said people familiar with the developments.
{{/usCountry}}The JD(S) are trying to survive the onslaught of both parties – the BJP and the Congress – by siding with the one they think is a lesser threat in the Old Mysuru region where Congress has a better foothold than the other, said people familiar with the developments.
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