BJP-JD(S) tie-up for Lok Sabha elections, seat-sharing final: BS Yediyurappa

New Delhi, September 8

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and member of the BJP parliamentary board BS Yediyurappa on Friday said the party had reached a pre-Lok Sabha poll understanding with the JD(S) and the two would contest the 2024 General Election together.

The state has 28 Lok Sabha segments with the BJP currently holding 25 and backing independent Sumanlatha Ambareesh in Mandya.

28 LS segments

25 held by BJP

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• For the BJP, it is important to protect its Karnataka Lok Sabha tally because this is the only southern state, besides Telangana, where it has a parliamentary presence
• It has no members in the Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
• The party has four (out of total 17) from Telangana and 25 (out of 28) from Karnataka

“Deve Gowda ji has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has already finalised four seats. I feel happy the BJP and JD(S) will have an understanding. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has agreed to give JD(S) four Lok Sabha seats. Now, together we will win 25 to 26 seats,” Yediyurappa said today.

The deal comes after the Congress defeated the BJP in the Karnataka Assembly elections by winning 135 of the 224 seats.

The BJP won 66 and the JD(S) fell to a historical low tally of 19 as its core voter bases shifted to the Congress.

For the BJP, it is important to protect its Karnataka Lok Sabha tally because this is the only southern state, besides Telangana, where it has a parliamentary presence. The BJP has no members in the Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. It has four (out of a total 17) from Telangana and 25 (out of 28) from Karnataka.