TO MAKE COMMON CAUSE

In the midst of a heated debate in the Karn­ataka assembly on July 13, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah half­taunted Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, asking if the latter was siding with the BJP of late.

- Ajay Sukumaran

Kumaraswamy retorted that if he had wanted to join hands with the BJP, he could have done so four years ago when he was still the CM. Just weeks before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Kumaraswamy revealed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to him, offering to support his government for the rest of its term. “But I refused as I was in a coalition with you (the Congress) and didn’t want to earn a black spot. If I had accepted then, I would have remained CM for the past five years.”

But that original question—of siding with the BJP in the present moment—still stood. Last week, as early calculations on the national alliances for the 2024 gen­eral election got under way, the JD(S) kept everybody guessing. Apparently, it wasn’t invited to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) conclave in Bengaluru or to the NDA meeting in Delhi.