New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular) have officially announced that they will be fighting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together from Karnataka, with the JD(S) set to contest in four of the state’s 28 parliamentary seats.Former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa confirmed the electoral alliance on Friday (September 8), saying, “I am happy that Deve Gowda ji met our prime minister and they have already finalised about four seats. I welcome them…” H.D. Deve Gowda had reportedly recently met BJP chief J.P. Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss the matter.However, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Saturday that no decision had been taken on seat-sharing and Yediyurappa had spoken in his personal capacity. “We have met cordially 2 or 3 times. Later on, let us see what is going to happen… We are coming together and having a discussion to go before the people,” he said.#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka: On BJP-JD(S) Alliance, former Karnataka CM & JD(S) Leader HD Kumaraswamy says, “Yediyurappa’s yesterday reaction is his personal reaction. Until now, there has been no discussion on seat sharing or anything. We have met cordially 2 or 3 times. Later… pic.twitter.com/8XQckO5nR7— ANI (@ANI) September 9, 2023According to Hindustan Times, the JD(S) had wanted to contest in five seats – Mandya, Hassan, Tumakuru, Chickballapur and Bengaluru Rural. In the final agreement, however, it has been decided that the party will contest from Kolar, Hassan, Mandya and Bengaluru Rural.In the 2019 elections, JD(S) had won just one Lok Sabha seat – Hassan. The BJP had won 25 seats on its own, and one more was won by an independent candidate supporting the BJP.While the alliance has now been confirmed, in July Deve Gowda had claimed that the JD(S) would be contesting the elections alone, India Today reported. “Whether we (the party) win five, six, three, two or one seats, we will fight the Lok Sabha elections independently,” he had said. PTI reported that senior party leaders in the JD(S) had been consulted on the matter, and most of them had argued for contesting in alliance with the BJP.