Congress and JDS will fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as part of an alliance, Congress' KC Venugopal said on Friday. "We(Congress-JDS) have come to a conclusion regarding cabinet expansion and portfolio allocation. JDS will be holding the finance portfolio. Everything is settled," he added. He was speaking after Congress and JDS finalised the portfolio allocation in Karnataka Government.

The announcement comes on the backdrop of the buzz regarding a united opposition against the Bharatiya Janata Party. Earlier today, the two parties, which had joined hands after Karnataka delivered a fractured mandate. The post-poll alliance between the two parties was followed by a bickering over portfolio allocation. Further, even after forming the alliance, the JD(S) had made it clear that the two parties are together in Vidhana Soudha, and not in elections. “Yes, we are in a coalition government, but my party is not for sale. I have to ensure the survival of JD(S),” JD(S) chief Deve Gowda was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.

“Alliance is only within Vidhana Soudha. It is my responsibility to ensure my party’s victory,” Gowda had said during a rally. A visible victory of the united opposition in Karnataka was followed by a debacle in Uttar Pradesh and other by-polls, the results of which were declared on June 31. The by-poll results have further boosted the theory that a united opposition may be a way to challenge the BJP's dominance in the 2019 general elections.