Ties tested, bond intact

The BJP-JDS alliance in Karnataka appears to be fraying at the edges ahead to the crucial civic polls, even as Modi and Deve Gowda share a strong rapport. Aditi Phadnis elaborates

- Aditi Phadnis

Last week, H D Deve Gowda held a press conference to denounce the state Congress government’s handling of the floods in North Karnataka.

‘The 92-year-old founder of the Janata Dal Secular, former Prime Minister, and former Karnataka Chief Minister used the occasion to make another point: “There will be no threat to the (National Democratic) Alliance in any polls, including panchayat and assembly. My relationship with PM Narendra Modi will never change. Our ties are good, and in the past 10 years, I have never once spoken lightly of him.”

He added, as if to underscore the JDS’s political autonomy, that the party aimed to win 50-60 seats in the forthcoming civic polls in Bengaluru. ‘The signal to party workers and political observers was clear: While the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the JDS might experience strain, the personal rapport between the two leaders was solid, and any attempt to upset that balance would be risky.

Deve Gowda’s message was strategically timed. Friction between the allies, who came together in September 2023, is becoming increasingly visible. The latest point of divergence was the invitation extended by the Congress government to Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the world-famous Mysuru Dasara festival. The BJP reacted sharply. “I personally respect Banu Mushtaq for her achievement. It is acceptable when she chairs the Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, but not Dasara, a Hindu religious event which starts with offering pooja to Goddess Chamundeshwari. Does she have faith in Chamundeshwari Devi? Is she following our traditions?” BJP leader and former Mysuru MP Pratap Simha told reporters in Mysuru. On X, Union minister Shobha Karandlaje described the invitation as an “insult to Hindu sentiments.”