Mandya (Karnataka):

JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy said he is sincerely working for better prospects of the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and it will be up to him whether he continues his alliance with the BJP after the assembly elections The treatment of political parties and their leaders.

The former chief minister further said that if given an opportunity and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confidence in him, he would like to serve as agriculture minister if the NDA returns to power.

Speaking to PTI Videos in an exclusive interview after filing nominations in Mandya on Thursday, the state JD(S) president said: “Our being part of the NDA depends on how our party leaders are treated in future. We are working sincerely and we Hopefully a long-term relationship with the BJP. But ultimately we will take a decision based on how we are treated and how much respect we get from the BJP.”

The JD(S), led by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, had joined the BJP-led NDA in September last year.

As part of the seat-sharing deal, the BJP will contest in 25 constituencies in Karnataka, while the JD(S) will contest in the remaining three constituencies in Karnataka (Mandia, Hassan and Kotlin). Lal) compete.

Gowda’s son Mr Kumaraswamy has made no secret of his desire to become the Union Agriculture Minister.

“Not only the people of Mandya are keen to see me as a union minister, even my friends in the BJP feel that it will be good for the country if I become a minister. I come from an agricultural background and got the opportunities I wanted” to become Minister of Agriculture, bringing good name to the government. If the Prime Minister believes that I can do a good job, if I am given a chance, I want to work in the agriculture sector,” he said.

The JD(S) leader, who is MLA from Channapatna in neighboring Ramanagara district, said he was under a lot of pressure from the people of Mandya to contest from there .

“We are in alliance with the BJP to fight for better prospects in Karnataka and not for political survival. It will be mutually beneficial for both the BJP and the JD(S). Congress The party took advantage of the split in votes among us in the last (parliamentary) elections and we realized our mistake and we decided to fight the Congress together,” he said.

Mr Kumaraswamy said the BJP was the “natural ally” of the JD(S) and not the Congress, saying his party had been fighting the great old party for the past 50 years .

“The last time we were in alliance with the BJP (for 20 months from January 2006) when I was the chief minister, it was a wonderful period and due to some misunderstandings and some misdeeds by miscreants, we had to part ways, “He said, adding that party leaders and cadres are now working sincerely for each other.

“This time, there is a lot of positivity, energy and synergy between us. Be it Yediyurappa (BJP veteran) or Deve Gowda (JDS patriarch) or any one of us. We are all working hard for each other to see The NDA alliance won all 28 seats in Karnataka,” he added.

Kumaraswamy also said the Congress in Karnataka has messed up the state’s finances with its guarantee scheme and the government does not have any funds for capital expenditure or development.

“They are now pointing the finger at the Center for discrepancies in refunds of GST and other grants due to financial mismanagement,” he claimed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)