“Desperately looking for alliances to stay afloat”: Karnataka minister mocks BJP’s poll tie-up with JD(S)

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 8 (ANI): Taking a swipe at the BJP over its alliance with the JD(S) for next year's Lok Sabha elections, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday said the tie-up came about after its humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections earlier this year.
Speaking to ANI on Friday, the Congress leader said, "There is too much confusion within the BJP right now. They are in dire straits in Karnataka and are desperately looking for such alliances to stay afloat. I think this alliance has a lot to do with their humiliating defeat in the last Assembly elections."
Earlier, on Friday, former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa claimed that the BJP had secured a tie-up with Janata Dal (Secular) ahead of the general elections next year.
The two parties, according to the former CM, reached a broad understanding not just for the next Lok Sabha elections but also the upcoming local body elections in the state.
"I am happy that Deve Gowda-ji met Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and reached a broad electoral understanding for four Lok Sabha seats. I welcome the coming together of our two parties," Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, mocking the BJP over its alliance with the JD(S), Congress MLC Jagdish Shettar says the electoral tie-up represents the coming together of two 'helpless' parties.
"The BJP and the JD(S) have every right to form an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. They were in talks for an alliance ahead of the Assembly elections but it didn't work out. Now, there are renewed speculations about these two parties coming together. Such alliances of convenience tend to corrode the electoral trust of the people. It also calls the credibility of parties entering into such alliances into question," Shettar told ANI.
On Wednesday, top JD(S) leaders went into a huddle at the residence of former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru to gauge the opinion of MLAs and senior party leaders on an alliance with the BJP. The meeting was held in the presence of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. 
The JD(S), which had to settle for just 19 seats in the Assembly elections earlier this year and has been struggling to retain its cadre, the alliance comes as a shot in the arm.
The BJP, which is known to draw electoral support from the influential Lingayat community in Karnataka, will now hope to tap into the JDS' core vote base — the Vokkaligas the other prominent communities in the state. (ANI)