JD(S) to form alliance with Congress for Kalaburagi mayoral election

The JD(S) will be allying with Congress to elect their mayoral candidate for the Kalaburagi City Corporation in Karnataka, according to the sources. There has been speculation that the party will ally itself with the BJP earlier.

Being the opposition party in Karnataka, Congress has emerged as the single largest party by winning 27 seats in the house of 55 in the Kalaburagi City Corporation polls. The JD(S) won four seats and the BJP has won 23 seats.

Party sources said that the decision was taken after Congress leader Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge personally spoke to the JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. The BJP was predicted to easily come to power with the help of JD(S).

The decision will set the tone for the alliance of Karnataka's regional party with Congress for the next assembly elections in 2023. It also hints at a possible joint fight in the upcoming Zilla, Taluka Panchayat elections, as well as Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls.

Ruling BJP MP Umesh Jadhav has already announced that BJP will elect its mayoral candidate. The JD(S) has called its elected members to Bengaluru and shifted them to a resort in the fears of 'hijacking' by the national parties BJP and Congress.

The Mayoral election of Kalburgi has turned into an issue of prestige between Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Meanwhile, the JD(S) has called for the legislators' meeting on Monday. The decision to ally with Congress will be formally announced only after the meeting.