Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: After Janata Dal (Secular) formally joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday, Karnataka Minister for Housing and Minority Welfare, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, has said that the BJP-JDS alliance has proved that the Congress Party is the only secular party in the country.
Talking to reporters in Vidhana Soudha here on Friday, he said, “The BJP-JDS alliance has proved that the Congress Party was the only secular party in the country. The people of the state have clarity about the alliance, which has no ideology. The alliance between the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) will be beneficial for the Congress Party in the coming 2024 Lok Sabha polls in a great way.”
“The BJP-JDS alliance has proved that the JDS is a B-team of the BJP,” he said.
He further said that the word ‘secular’ from the JD (S) should be removed as the party has now joined hands with the BJP which the Congress leader accused of being the “most communal party” in the history of independent India.
“It is better to remove the word secular from the Janata Dal. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the JDS had an alliance with the Congress Party. Had the Congress Party contested independently, they would have won a minimum of 10 seats. By aligning with the JDS, the Congress won the solitary seat. This would be the BJP’s position in the coming parliamentary polls,” he said.
The Janata Dal (Secular) of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Friday announced an alliance with the BJP in Karnataka and formally joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy made the announcement after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the national capital.
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.
