At one point of time, the JDS , a regional party gave a stiff competition to the Congress Party and the BJP, and won 16 seats in the parliamentary polls held in 90s. But over the years it's power base has dwindled due to the exodus of the popular leaders to two other parties following the emergence of H.D.Kumaraswamy, younger son of former PM H.D.Deve Gowda, who formed the coalition governments with the BJP and the Congress, two arch rivals of the regional party.

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In  2019, the JDS aligned with the Congress party and faced the poll jointly  in a bid to pre empt the expected  drubbing. But even Deve Gowda, let alone his grandson, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Kumaraswamy who was the CM during that time, lost in the hustings. The only seat the JDS won had been Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Prajwal Revanna, son of H.D.Revanna, the older son and former minister.  After losing heavily in that Lok Sabha polls, the JDS did not see any prospect for improvement, losing heavily in the 2023 Assembly polls, managing to win just 20 seats.

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Sensing the mood of the people that the JDS did not have a bright future and could not run  without the help of any one of the national parties, Kumaraswamy struck a deal with the BJP and decided to face the crucial Lok Sabha polls together. The BJP wanted an ally, especially in South Karnataka where the Vokkaligas have a strong presence, To the JDS, it  came as a blessing. Two national leaders, Deve Gowda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a couple of meetings in New Delhi and finalised the deal. Now the talks are being taken on  by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Kumaraswamy about seat sharing. The former CM wanted to teach a lesson to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K.Shivakumar for lampooning the JDS after it bit the dust. His main aim was to defeat the Bengaluru Rural MP D.K.Suresh, brother of Shivakumar, and to continue as a popular Vokkaliga leader by seen as the natural success to his father, Deve Gowda.

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3 or 5

The JDS, according to sources close to Kumaraswamy, told this reporter that Kumaraswamy has sought five seats but may settle for three. As Deve Gowda has already announced that he would not contest the 2024 LS polls, the Hassan seat would go to the sitting MP, Prajwal. There has been pressure on Kumaraswamy and Nikhil Kumaraswamy to contest but the duo are disinclined to shift to  narional politics.

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Deve Gowda has plans to field his son-in-law and noted cardiologist, Dr C N.Manjunath who retired from the post of director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology and Vascular Sciences, Bengaluru. He was seen as a saviour by thousands of families across the state for saving the lives of their near and dear ones. The JDS wants to capitalise on his popularity and field him from the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency against D.K.Suresh. Dr Manjunath has reportedly given his consent to contest the parliamentary polls. The BJP also wanted the JDS to win as many seats as possible to teach a lesson to the I.N.D.I A Block formed by the Congress Party agsinst PM Modi.

The JDS has reportedly asked for thev Mandya, Hassan, Bengaluru Rural, Tumkur and Chikkaballapur seats but the BJP has agreed to give two or three seats considering what they believe is a pro-saffron wave across the country. Kumaraswamy has sought the Mandya seat for his son, Nikhil as he is sure of winning this seat especially after the Keregodu incident where the Hindu population has been up in arms against the state government for the removal of Hanuman dhwaj. But the sitting MP, Sumalatha Ambareesh who recently extended her unconditional support to PM Modi, wanted to contest from the same seat for the second term.

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It was learnt that the PM Modi and Amit Shah have reportedly asked her to stand from the seat in Bengaluru as the JDS has sought the Mandya seat. So far, Sumalatha, wife of late actor and politician, M.H.Ambareesh, hasn't disclosed her next plan of action. According to sources, she would knock on the doors of the Congress Party if the BJP handover the Mandya seat to the JDS. The former CM Kumaraswamy has, insiders say, called a truce with her and decided to bury the hatchet, and work together to bring back Modi for the third consecutive time as the prime minister.

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The JDS leaders were in Delhi to meet Shah for the first round of talks regarding the seat sharing this week. Another two to three rounds of talks are expected before the formal announcement of list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls when battle lines will be drawn between parties that once supped together.