NEW DELHI: Congress‘s emphatic win in Karnataka may have cost the opposition front an important ally in the state with former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda taking a swipe at the unity efforts led by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
The huge Congress victory in Karnataka, where the grand old party won 135 assembly seats out of 224, may have pushed the JD(U) closer to the BJP as the regional party prepares for the Lok Sabha elections.
The JD(U) lost significantly – not just the seats but also considerable vote share. The party’s seat tally in the assembly was reduced to almost half from 37 in 2018 to 19 in 2023. It also lost around 5% of the voteshare which was mostly gained by the Congress.
“Show me one party which has not associated with the BJP, either directly or indirectly. Show me one party in the whole country, then I will answer,” Deve Gowda said responding to a question on Nitish Kumar’s efforts to bring together non-BJP parties.
Gowda also took a dig at the Congress and said some leaders of the grand old party are also with the BJP.
In a possible hint at the party’s future course of action, the former Prime Minister praised railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for leading from the front after the Odisha train tragedy.
His praise comes at a time when several opposition parties have been demanding the railway minister’s resignation.
Deve Gowda and his party had earlier broken ranks with the opposition parties and attended the function to inaugurate the new Parliament building.
Several regional leaders have emphasised the importance of opposition unity in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
However, if the JD(S) finally decides to ally with the BJP, it will be a setback for the opposition front in the state where Congress is a key player.