BJP, JD(S) to complete seat-sharing talks by January-end, says H D Kumaraswamy

New Delhi: JD(S) state president and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said his party and the BJP will complete the seat-sharing talks for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by the end of January.

Kumaraswamy, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda, said the matter was discussed during the meeting.

Gowda’s son and MLA H D Revanna, as well as his grandson-Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, also accompanied him for the meeting with Modi at his residence here.

The JD(S) joined the BJP-led NDA in September after Kumaraswamy had a meeting with Shah and Nadda.

“Seat-sharing (talks) between the two parties will be completed comfortably by the end of January. There will be no hurdle in that,” Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

When asked how many seats the JD(S) will seek, he said, “The number of seats does not matter. We will ask for a few seats where JD(S) can win.”

The alliance with the BJP has been formed to give a befitting reply to the Congress, which wants to finish the JD(S) in Karnataka, he said.

Sources said the party is likely to ask for at least three to four seats. Kumaraswamy said he would meet Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda.

In the meeting with Modi, Kumaraswamy said he raised several issues related to Karnataka, including a demand for increasing the minimum support price for copra amid falling prices and inclusion of the Kaadu Golla community in the Scheduled Tribes list so that its members can avail reservation benefits.

When asked whether he would be interested in joining the Modi cabinet, Kumaraswamy said, “This was a suggestion by some of our party leaders and well-wishers. But there is no such plan in my mind.”

On the Congress’s allegations that the BJP is trying to destabilise its government in Karnataka, Kumaraswamy quipped, “Anything is possible. In Karnataka too, there are Ajit Pawar and (Eknath) Shinde.”

He accused the Congress of following double standards, saying while it has been raising the issue of Parliament security breach, it ignored the security lapse that occurred in the Karnataka assembly in July.

“One unidentified person sat on an MLA’s chair for an hour when the Assembly session was going on in Karnataka. Why did the Congress friends not raise the issue at that time? Here in the Parliament, they are raising the (issue of) security breach to stall the proceedings,” he said.

He also targeted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his remarks on the importance of having a strong opposition and alleged that attempts are being made to finish off JD(S) in the state. “Does he mean that there should be a strong opposition at the Centre and not in the state?” he asked.