In its 25th year of founding, the Janata Dal (Secular) will be fighting a crucial election this time after a severe drubbing in the assembly elections in May. In a reversal of alliance, the regional outfit that aligned with the Congress in 2019 is going to Parliamentary polls with the BJP at a time when the party’s survival is at stake.
While the JD(S) believes that aligning with the saffron party has staved off attempts by the Congress to “break” the party by poaching its legislators, the performance in the Parliamentary polls holds the key for a stable alliance with the BJP in future, helping it to retain its identity within the alliance. This is the regional party’s first major election after dramatically realigning its ideological stance.
