Amit Shah to interact with JD(S) leaders as joint campaign with BJP set to gain momentum in Karnataka

PTI, Apr 1, 2024, 4:57 PM IST

Amit Shah (Source: PTI / File)

Bengaluru: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said he along with his party colleagues will apprise Union Home Minister Amit Shah and share feedback on poll situation in various constituencies across Karnataka ahead of Lok Sabha polls, at Tuesday’s breakfast meeting with him and state BJP state leaders.

The joint breakfast meeting is being seen as a move by the BJP to plug any trust gaps with its alliance partner — the JD(S).

As per the seat-sharing deal for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will contest in 25 constituencies and the JD(S) in the remaining three in the State.

“At Amit Shah’s breakfast meeting in the morning (on Tuesday), we will share our feedback and apprise him about the election process that has begun in the state. The target is to win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state,” Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, the JD(S) state unit President and son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, said poll preparations are going on well in all the constituencies.

“We don’t want small minor issues to disturb the understanding between both the parties, and our intention is that there should not be even a minor fault in reaching our goal. So we will discuss all matters with him,” he said.

Kumaraswamy said he will also take part in Shah’s road show in Channapatna, the assembly segment which he represents, under the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency, where his brother-in-law and eminent cardiologist C N Manjunath is contesting the polls on a BJP ticket.

Shah is also slated to attend BJP meetings and programmes during the day.

Responding to a question on the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda sharing a stage during the campaign, Kumaraswamy said such plans have not been made yet, as the former has to travel across the country.

“At one or two events when he (Modi) comes to Karnataka, wherever there is a need to participate, we will participate. There is expectation for them (PM and Gowda) to share the stage, at some stage they will campaign together,” he said.

Indicating confidence about independent MP from Mandya, Sumalatha Ambareesh extending her support to him, in the upcoming polls, Kumaraswamy said: “you can understand from the fact that she called yesterday’s meeting between us as a healthy discussion, there may be a meaning in it…understanding which Congress has stepped up its attack on us, out of fear.”

Kumaraswamy, who is now the official candidate of NDA from Mandya Lok Sabha seat, on Sunday met Sumalatha, and sought her cooperation in the upcoming polls.

Sumalatha, a multilingual actress-turned-politician, said she will be announcing her decision on April 3 in Mandya after consulting her supporters and well-wishers and another round of discussions with the BJP leadership.

The wife of popular film star M H Ambareesh, Sumalatha had staked claim for a BJP ticket for re-election from Mandya that was represented by her late husband in the past and which she had won with BJP’s support in 2019 defeating Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil.