"Numbers Not An Issue": On Seat Share, HD Kumaraswamy Signals Climbdown | Read

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today confirmed that the focus of the alliance is to "win the maximum number of seats" and his party was willing to work to this end. "The number of seats that we will contest is not an issue," the Chief Minister said in what is seen as an indication of a further climbdown. Party sources said Mr Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular is likely to settle for eight seats - way lower than 12 it wanted and one less than the nine his father HD Deve Gowda had decided during his talks with Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.