![[File] Prime Minister Narendra Modi and JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda](https://img.theweek.in/content/dam/week/news/india/images/2021/12/7/narendra-modi-devegowda-sourced.jpg "[File] Prime Minister Narendra Modi and JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda")
JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “dedication” to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in the just concluded Assembly elections.
The BJP retained power in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur as the results of the polls were declared on Thursday.
"PM Modi is battling to bring the BJP to power in every corner of the country. He does the election work with all the dedication,” Deve Gowda was quoted as saying by IANS.
The veteran leader, however, said the JD(S) will not forge an alliance with any national party for the Karnataka Assembly elections due next year. “Our candidates will fight against two national parties in the state. There is no question of forging an alliance," Gowda said.
The JD(S) chief further announced that his party would hold a massive convention in Bengaluru on March 20.
Meanwhile, talking to a TV channel, Gowda lashed at the Congress for his “bitter experience” with the grand old party. The JD(S) and the Congress were in alliance in Karnataka for a year before their government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy collapsed in 2019 following defection of 17 legislators to the BJP.
Gowda told News18 that his party had approached the Congress twice for a tie-up. “If the Congress is not interested, let them contest all the 545 seats on their own. Who is bothered?" he told the channel.
