Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP) 

Bengaluru, Jan 25: Chairman of the coordination committee of the coalition government in the state, Siddaramaiah, said that at the coordination committee meeting held on Thursday, it was decided that Congress and JD(S) will fight the Lok Sabha election together. He said that seat sharing matrix would be decided after discussions are held in the presence of JD(S) supremo, H D Deve Gowda.  

Siddaramaiah added that the seats would be decided on the basis of the extent of support each of the parties enjoys in individual constituencies. Speaking to media persons after the coordination committee meeting, he said that preliminary discussions were held about the two parties jointly fighting the Lok Sabha election, and seat sharing would be discussed with Deve Gowda.  He said that only preliminary level discussions about seat sharing were held and no final decisions were taken. "To hold discussions and arrive at a consensus, another meeting is being held within two days," he clarified. 

It is said that the meeting could not reach an understanding about 12 constituencies demanded by JD(S). This issue will be discussed at the meeting being held in two days.  The leaders have agreed that arriving at an understanding at the earliest will help in making preparations in time for the election, and it will also help clear the confusions in the minds of party workers.  

The participants expressed the view that the incident at the resort had resulted in discomfiture for the government. Siddaramaiah said that being an internal issue of the party, Congress will sort out this matter on its own.  

Discussions were also held about the confusion about appointment of heads to corporations and boards and withholding of the appointment of MLC, Gopalaswamy as parliamentary secretary, and MLA, Dr Sudhakar, as chairman Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. 

Siddaramaiah also is said to have suggested to present the budget, duly giving priority to the points contained in the manifestos of both the parties. 

Siddaramaiah said at the meeting that there is no question of protecting Kampli MLA, Ganesh, relating to the episode at the resort. Convener of the coordination committee, Danish Ali, said that several rounds of discussions would be needed to finalize the number of seats and constituencies where candidates are to be fielded by individual parties. He said the aim of the coalition would be to defeat the BJP by securing over 25 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka.