Congress to contest from Bangalore North seat

The Congress will contest from the Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency on April 18 as its ally Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) decided not to field its candidate, a JD-S official said on Monday.

"Our party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda conveyed to senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel that the party would not contest from Bangalore North and the ally was free to field its candidate," JD-S spokesman Ramesh Babu told IANS here.

As part of the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties, the Congress will contest in 21 Lok Sabha seats, instead of 20, and the JD-S in seven, instead of eight.

"Of the 28 parliamentary constituencies, we will contest in one-third (7) of them, while the Congress will do in three-fourth (21) of them," said Babu, declining to explain why the party was giving up Bangalore North seat to the Congress.

Polling will be held in two phases in the southern state, with 14 from the southern and central regions on April 18, and the remaining 14 in the coastal and northern regions on April 23.

Vote counting is on May 23.