Bengaluru: Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) state president HD Kumaraswamy expressed his dissatisfaction over reports that BJP will allot only two seats to the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, saying he is hopeful that his party would be given three to four seats. He said that his party leaders have asked him to communicate to the BJP leadership the need to treat the JD(S) "respectfully" and make them understand its strength in at least 18 Lok Sabha segments.
A meeting of the JD(S) core committee members, observers to all the Lok Sabha constituencies, district presidents and sitting and former MLAs was held on Monday in the presence of the party's national president HD Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy.
"I will not speak until there is an official announcement. I have not asked for six or seven seats. Since the day discussions began, we have been asking for three to four seats," Kumaraswamy said to reporters after the meeting here.
The former CM also said, "To take two seats, should I make so much effort? Do I have to make so many adjustments? In Hassan and Mandya, even now I can say that our candidates can win if we go independently, and if there is a triangular contest, we can win easily".
The JD(S), which joined the NDA last September, has forged an electoral alliance with the BJP, and seat-sharing talks are on. The regional party is expected to contest in three seats namely Mandya, Hassan and Kolar. According to the agreement between BJP and JD(S), noted cardiac surgeon and Deve Gowda's son-in-law Dr C N Manjunath has been fielded from Bangalore Rural on a BJP ticket.
However, as per some reports, the BJP is not ready to allot the Kolar seat to the JD(S), leaving the ally unhappy.
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