JD(S)-BJP tie-up: End of the Third Force

Formed in 1999, the Janata Dal(Secular) led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and son Kumaraswamy will be celebrating its 25th anniversary next year.

This is no mean achievement for a regional outfit which has been forced to fight for survival against two national parties - the Congress and BJP - which have all along tried their best to wipe it out from Karnataka’s political map but have not met with much success so far.

In the past 24 years, the JD(S) has always taken a left of centre position on crucial national and state issues; the United Front government led by Deve Gowda about three decades ago, had the CPI and CPI(M) backing it.

In states like Kerala, the JD(S) has been part of the Left front proving its secular outlook. A few weeks ago, the JD(S) leadership took a momentous decision to ally with the BJP-led NDA and the party is set to fight the coming Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the saffronists.

This moves comes five years after the JD(S) and Congress formed a coalition government in Karnataka led by Kumaraswamy which was however short-lived.

Since then, relations between the JD(S) and Congress have been cold to say the least and this could have played a role in pushing Deve Gowda’s party into the lap of the BJP.

There are others factors too - the JD(S) has seen its fortunes plummeting in recent years with its Lok Sabha tally in the 2018 polls falling to just one seat. In the recent Assembly elections, the party suffered a severe blow with its seat tally getting halved to just 19.

The party has suffered a severe setback in its home turf in districts like Mandya, Mysuru and Tumakuru, considered the heartland of Vokkaliga community politics.

With a dominant Vokkaliga leader like DK Shivakumar spearheading the Congress campaign machine, the community, considered the second largest in Karnataka, has overwhelmingly backed the Grand Old Party leaving the JD(S) nowhere.

The JD(S) no doubt relies heavily on the stature of Deve Gowda, now in his nineties. So there are nagging doubts about how long the party can survive with son Kumaraswamy or other JD(S) leaders unlikely to measure up to the popularity which Gowda senior commands in Karnataka and among the Vokkaligas in particular.

What has also come as a source of concern for JD(S) leaders are attempts by Congress leaders to make the best of the JD(S) failings and wean away a substantial number of its legislators.

DK Shivakumar has disclosed more than once in the past that several JD(S) leaders are in touch with him and are waiting to cross over when the time is opportune.

And when that happens, questions are likely to be asked about how long the JD(S) can survive in the rough and tumble of Karnataka politics. But then, was tying up with the BJP the best option for a party which had won much admiration for its unflinching secular stance?

The party has a substantial number of minority community leaders and supporters in its fold and many of them including state president CM Ibrahim are likely to break away once the pact with the BJP fructifies.

Parties which swear by the socialist ideal may be down but they are not out. In UP, the Samajwadi Party is the main opposition party while in Bihar, the RJD and JD(U) are in power in one of India’s biggest states.

In many other states, Left of centre parties professing socialist ideologies, are keeping the dream of a just and equitable society alive with their relentless struggle for rights of the poor and oppressed.