Bengaluru, Mar 29: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the Congress and the JD(S) had struck a deal for the Assembly elections to be held in the State. The agreement was done in Hyderabad, he said, a charge rejected outright by JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy.

The Chief Miniser's comments came in the background of the Election Commission today announcing that the polls to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly would be held on May 10.

Speaking to reporters, Bommai claimed that the Congress was pleading to the BJP MLAs to come and join the party.

Responding to a query on the Congress's charge that there was an understanding between the BJP and the JD(S), the Chief Minister said, "There is nothing of that sort. In fact, there was a meeting in Hyderabad between the Congress leaders and the JD(S), according to my information. A deal has been stuck there between them."

Bommai said the process of releasing BJP candidates' list for the Assembly polls will start after a week.

Kumaraswamy took objection to Bommai's statement. "I demand that the Chief Minister disclose the name of the leaders who met in Hyderabad and the place where the meeting took place," he said.

The JD(S) leader said he found the CM's allegations too trivial to react to. He added that both the Congress and the BJP called the JD(S) a B team of each other. The two national parties had nothing else to speak about the JD(S), he added.

"We decided to contest all 224 Assembly segments. We did not align with anybody. We are confident that we will form the government on our own. There is no question of joining hands with any party," Kumaraswamy said.

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Mangaluru: In an effort to make Mangaluru ‘drug-free,’ the CCB Police arrested a man, Shameer PK, near Mulki and seized 738 grams of hydro ganja worth ₹73 lakh, which he was transporting in his car.

The police said on Friday that Shameer is a resident of Kandalad village in the Kozhikode district of Kerala. They have also confiscated his mobile phone as well as the car he was using to transport the narcotics, with the total value of the confiscated items estimated to be more than ₹80 lakh.

The officers stated that Shameer was transporting the narcotics from Goa to be supplied to various places, including Mangaluru and Kerala. The CCB Police intercepted his car near Bappanadu on the outskirts of Mulki town, and upon checking the vehicle, found 738 grams of hydro ganja.

An FIR has been filed at the Mulki Police Station, and further investigation is underway. The CCB Police have stated that a preliminary probe revealed the narcotics were supplied from abroad.

The CCB investigation team was led by ACP Manoj Kumar Nayak and included Inspector Shyamsunder HM, Sub-inspector Sharanappa Bhandari, and other police personnel.