BENGALURU: Senior JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy here on Saturday stressed the need to take the local BJP and JDS leadership into confidence before the two parties move forward to forge an alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He was talking to the media soon after landing from New Delhi, where he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda and sealed the pre-poll alliance.
He said the alliance should not be a prestige issue. “I have appealed to state BJP leaders to hold meetings to build trust among local leaders. By Dasara, things should be clear. Both national and state leaders will make an announcement on the alliance and explain its essence to the people of the state,” he added.
Kumaraswamy’s son and JDS Youth Wing state president Nikhil Kumaraswamy said he is not an aspirant for the Mandya Lok Sabha seat which he lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh in the 2019 parliamentary polls. “Our focus now is 28 Lok Sabha seats and not Mandya alone.
In the coming days, we will discuss (about the alliance candidate),” he said when asked about Sumalatha, an independent MP, already supporting BJP.