Bengaluru, Sept 30: C M Ibrahim, the Karnataka state unit president of Janata Dal (Secular), has expressed displeasure over not being consulted before the party’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and said he was keeping his options open.
Questioning the nature of his party’s alliance with the BJP, Ibrahim said despite being the elected state chief, he was not consulted before the party joined hands with the BJP.
He said, “I have kept my options open.” However, he added that he was an elected president and wouldn't leave the party just like that.
He also claimed that the alliance did not take place formally. “Just because they met in Delhi, doesn't mean there's an alliance,” Ibrahim said.
He said after the alliance meeting in Delhi, JD(S) leader KA Thippeswamy called him to inform him about the developments.
Ibrahim added that he would exercise his power as a state president.
According to sources, the JD(S) will hold a meeting chaired by state chief CM Ibrahim on October 16 to decide on the next steps.
There has been an outflux of JD(S) leaders post the alliance with the BJP. There have been mass resignations of minority leaders from Mysuru, including that of party ex-Vice President Syed Shafi Ulla.
Last week, the Janata Dal (Secular) joined the BJP-led NDA and forged an alliance with the saffron party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to fight the Congress in Karnataka, with the two parties expected to announce the seat-sharing formula after the Dussehra festival next month.
The BJP said the alliance will come as a boost to its prospects in the Lok Sabha polls and strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after it was sealed just months after the party was ousted by the Congress from its lone southern citadel in the May Assembly polls.
As the BJP attempts to recalibrate its electoral strategy in different states in the run-up to both the upcoming Assembly polls in five states and the next general election, the JD(S), which is headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, said it has officially joined the NDA and asserted it has partnered with the saffron party to take on the Congress in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls.
The alliance was formalised after JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's 45-minute meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda at Shah's residence in the national capital.
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