Karnataka Assembly Election 2018: JDS to announce pre-poll alliance with BSP

Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda's Janata Dal (Secular) and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are all set to contest together in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018. An official announcement about the pre-poll alliance is expected to be made on Thursday. Marred by rebellion after it suspended nine of its MLAs last year, the JD(S) in Karnataka is struggling to put up a fight in the upcoming polls. The high-pitched battle between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has compelled the JD(S) to look for allies to contest polls.

JD(S)' Kunwar Danish Ali and Satish Chandra Mishra of the BSP are expected to address the media jointly on Thursday where the tie-up will be officially announced. While it secured 40 out of the 224 seats with a vote share of 20.19 per cent in the previous assembly election in Karnataka, the JD(S) has lost 9 seats after party supremo H D Devegowda suspended MLAs, including their top Muslim face Zameer Ahmed, for anti-party activities. The BSP contested 175 seats in the previous election but failed to secure a single seat.

The party's vote share stood at a minuscule 0.91 percent in the 2013 assembly elections. The expected pre-poll alliance comes weeks after JD(S) chief H D Devegowda said that his party was open to an alliance with left parties. JD(S) has mostly played kingmaker in Karnataka electoral politics with its formidable influence in the old Mysuru region and pockets of Bengaluru rural and North Karnataka.