HD Kumaraswamy meets Amit Shah in Delhi, JD (S) formally joins NDA today

New Delhi: The Janata Dal (Secular) formally joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday as Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.

NDA under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji continues to grow bigger, stronger and as the most trusted political coalition across the country.

I warmly welcome the @JanataDal_S to the NDA family. Together we will build a stronger NDA and a New India.@AmitShah @JPNadda

— B.S.Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) September 22, 2023

BJP President JP Nadda and Goa CM Pramod Sawant were also present during the meeting.

Former Prime Minister and JD (S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy reportedly met BJP President JP Nadda and Amit Shah in the Parliament on Thursday.

There were talks within Karnataka’s political circles for the past few months that the JD(S) could ally with the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The JD(S) had aligned with the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, however, the parties faced a drubbing as the BJP swept 25 out of the 28 seats in Karnataka and even an independent candidate supported by the BJP won from the Mandya constituency.

The JD(S) has allied with both the BJP and the Congress in the state.

Though the JD(S) won 19 seats in the recent Assembly polls that were held in May, it was the party’s worst performance in history.

Notably, the party was not invited either to the NDA meeting in Delhi or to the meeting of the Opposition- INDIA bloc in Bengaluru in July.