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Congress Seals Alliance With JD(S) In Karnataka

Congress will contest 20 seats and JD (S) eight in the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. 

File photo of Karnata Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy with Congress President Rahul Gandhi. (Photograph: PTI)
File photo of Karnata Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy with Congress President Rahul Gandhi. (Photograph: PTI)

The Congress will contest 20 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) eight in the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka under a deal finalised by the two ruling coalition partners on Wednesday, the JD(S) said.

The seat-sharing was hammered out at a meeting between Congress President Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) Secretary General Danish Ali at Kochi in Kerala this evening, party sources said.

JD(S) will contest in Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Tumkur, Hassan, Mandya, Bengaluru North and Vijayapura, according to sources.

During a recent meeting with Rahul Gandhi at Delhi, JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda had scaled down his party’s demand and asked the national party to allot at least 10 out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats to his party.

JD(S) had earlier demanded that it be given 12 seats to contest.

JD(S) has already announced Gowda’s grandsons Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna as candidates from the party bastions of Mandya and Hassan, respectively. While Nikhil is son of Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, Prajwal is the son of Gowda’s elder son and PWD Minister HD Revanna.

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