JD(S) belts another alliance with Sharad Pawar’s NCP

Team Udayavani, Feb 16, 2018, 12:05 PM IST

Bengaluru: The JD(S) is good to go for a union with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which is led by Sharad Pawar ahead of the Assembly elections.

Sharad Pawar, who was in the Bengaluru on Thursday for the working committee meeting of the NCP, met JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy and had a telephonic discussion with JD(S) President and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, sources revealed.

Talking to the reporters Pawar said “We did not go through the details of the alliance, yet the perception is that the JD(S) administration is thoughtful to meeting up. I don’t perceive any reason why this alliance ought not to work out”

Pawar has been connecting with similar parties the across the nation for a unified alliance against the BJP. “In Karnataka, the NCP’s objective is to overcome the BJP.” He brought up that the NCP was a part of an alliance including the JD(S) and the Left parties in Kerala.

Pawar, who was previously a prime ministerial candidate said that the NCP had “restricted strength” in Karnataka. “We still have committed workers in a few districts and Assembly constituencies. The NCP will contest restricted seats,” he said. Sources in the JD(S) said the NCP will battle 5-7 seats.

Sharad Pawar said that he will spend in regards to seven days campaigning in the north Karnataka regions. “Agriculturists, dalits and minority welfare will be our core interest.”The alliance with the JD(S) accompanies a rider. “I put a condition that the JD(S) won’t truck with the BJP in case of a hung Assembly and Kumaraswamy acknowledged this condition,” he said.

The JD(S) union with the NCP comes days after it reported a tie-up with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which could part Dalit votes that would traditionally go to the Congress.

Pawar is positive that an UPA-like alliance will be set up to go up against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “How about we not overlook, in 2004, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a mainstream Prime Minister. Be that as it may, we never thought we’d frame a government under Manmohan Singh.

The NCP boss said he has changed his appraisal of the Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whom he once called “undeveloped.” He said Rahul now has importance. “Anyone heading a political gathering, however huge or little, has some importance.”