Taking a jibe at Janata Dal (Secular), Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the party should not call itself secular after establishing an electoral alliance with BJP for Lok Sabha elections 2024. The JD(S) officially sealed an alliance with BJP after former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy met Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda in New Delhi.
Talking to reporters at Konanakere, Siddaramaiah asked, "What should we call them (JD(S)), they have now an alliance with BJP for elections. The name says secular. Are they secular now?"
"Should we accept what they say? Even after going with a communal party, still they are secular? Should we accept? Let them go with BJP or anybody we don't have objections but they should not say they are secular," he said.
Reiterating the statement, Siddaramaiah said that they should not say that Janata Dal is a secular party.
Meanwhile, HD Kumaraswamy criticized Congress for making allegations of JD(S) being the 'B-team' of BJP. He said that JD(S) formed an alliance with BJP on the invite of Shah instead of an alliance with Congress.
Kumaraswamy claimed the Congress attempted to "finish off" the JD(S) after forming an alliance with the party and accused them of 'destroying' secular movements throughout the nation.
Earlier, Syed Shafiulla Saheb, Karnataka unit president of Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) resigned from the party over the alliance between his party and the BJP. Saheb said that he was not happy with the decision of the party and said that it was difficult to adjust to those "who propagate" hate.
JD(S) formed a government in coalition with BJP for 20 months from January 2006 and later formed a government in alliance with Congress for 14 months from May 2018.