Cong, JD(S) meet for seat-sharing; Gowda demands 10 in K’taka

New Delhi: JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda Wednesday demanded Congress President Rahul Gandhi to give his party at least 10 seats to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.

Gandhi met Deve Gowda for seat-sharing talks at the latter's residence.

The meeting lasted around two hours.

AICC's general secretary in Karnataka K C Venugopal and JD(S) national general secretary Danish Ali were present at the meeting.

"Gandhi discussed about seat sharing in Karnataka. This is the first such discussion between the two parties. There are 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Earlier, I had asked for 12. At the meeting, I requested Rahulji to give at least 10 seats to the JD(S)," Deve Gowda told reporters.

Gandhi will take the final decision after taking inputs from Ali and Venugopal, he said.

Ali said the seat-sharing arrangement will be announced by March 10.

"At the meeting, the two leaders discussed the prevailing political situation in the country, opposition unity and pre-poll alliance in Karnataka. The Congress would contest two-thirds of the seats and the rest are for the JD(S). Seat wise, we have to discuss and finalise. We are going to reach a decision shortly and will announce it by March 10," he said.