Cong questions secular credentials of JD(S) following its alliance with BJP
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress leaders on Friday questioned the secular credentials of the Janata Dal (Secular), which has entered into an alliance with the BJP, and said that the coming together of the two parties will not have any impact on its own prospects in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Stating that former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) now stands exposed, Minister Priyank Kharge even mocked the collaboration saying that the BJP was the "B-team" of the JD(S) in the newly formed alliance.
After days of talk about a tie-up between the BJP and the JD(S), the decision was finalised today following a meeting of the leader of the regional party and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J P Nadda.
"There is nothing surprising. If you saw, BJP was moving lethargically after losing the election in Karnataka. It was very evident that the BJP's central leadership lost their complete confidence in the state leadership. That is why they did not even name the opposition leader in the upper house nor in the lower house," Kharge said, reacting to the BJP-JD(S) alliance.
Speaking to reporters here, he said that it is now "very evident that JD(S) is the primary partner and BJP has become the B-team" for the regional party.
"More importantly, JD(S) should write to the Election Commission and just drop the word 'Secular' from the party's name, because at one point of time, you claim to be secular and at the same time you are going ahead and joining hands with the most communal party in the history of independent India," he added.
Noting that irrespective of how much bonhomie and brotherhood the BJP and JD(S) project, it will not make any dent in the Congress's fortunes in Karnataka, Kharge said, adding that the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka are going to be won by the Congress party.
"JD(S) has been exposed today, they had been claiming that they are secular and fooling a lot of people earlier. If you turn the pages of history and see, it was because of the JD(S) that BJP came to power in Karnataka. And again they are making the same mistake," he added.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said the BJP-JD(S) alliance will not affect the Congress in any way, and expressed confidence that his party would win more than 20 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
"We will retain the vote share (42.88 per cent) that we got during the assembly polls in the Lok Sabha polls too. We don't have any feeling that their alliance will cause any hindrance for us. JD(S) had allied with Congress too, but ultimately what were the results? People of the state know," he said.
Pointing out that the JD(S) played politics all these years with its secular credentials, Parameshwara said today that the party leaders must explain what secularism is.
The BJP had swept the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, winning 25 seats, while an independent (Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya) backed by it won one seat. The Congress and JD(S) won one seat each.
In the 2019 LS elections, the BJP had won as many as 25 seats, while an independent (Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya) backed by it won one seat. The Congress and JD(S) managed to get just one seat each.
However, in the elections to the 224-member state assembly held in May this year, the Congress bagged 135 seats, while the BJP secured just 66 and the JD(S) 19.
JD(S) had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress; at the time, both parties were running a coalition government under the Chief Ministership of Kumaraswamy.
JD(S) has earlier formed governments in coalition with both the BJP and Congress separately -- for 20 months from January 2006, and for 14 months from May 2018, respectively, with Kumaraswamy as chief minister.
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Air Chief Marshal AP Singh meets PM Modi
New Delhi, May 4 (PTI): Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Sunday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is understood to have discussed the security situation arising out of the rising tensions between India and Pakistan over the deadly Pahalgam terror attack.
The meeting came less than 24 hours after Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi apprised the prime minister on the overall situation in the critical sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.
The Air chief held a meeting with PM Modi, sources said without giving further details. There is no official word on the Modi-Singh meeting yet.
Citing "cross-border linkages" to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians, India has promised severe punishment to those involved in the strike.
In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass, Prime Minister Modi on last Tuesday gave the armed forces "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of the response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Modi also emphasised the national resolve to deal a "crushing blow to terrorism".
A day after the attack, India announced a raft of punitive measures against Pakistan, including suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, shutting down of the land border crossing at Attari and downgrading of diplomatic ties.
In response, Pakistan shut its airspace to Indian airliners and suspended all trade with India, including through third countries.
In fresh punitive measures, India imposed a complete ban on imports of all goods from Pakistan with immediate effect on the grounds of national security and public policy.
New Delhi also suspended all postal services from Pakistan and banned entry of Pakistani-flagged ships at Indian ports.
