Bengaluru, March 19: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said the JD(S) was committing suicide by fielding former Prime Minister H D Devegowda's son-in-law Dr C N Manjunath on a BJP ticket.

The BJP gave a ticket to the renowned cardiologist and the retired director of state-owned Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research. He will fight the election against Shivakumar's brother and three-time MP D K Suresh.

Referring to Kumaraswamy's statement that the JD(S) did not need an alliance with the BJP to contest in two seats, Shivakumar said, "I expected this. The JDS is embarrassed by the alliance with the BJP."

Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar added, "The BJP has been doing this to its partners in other states too. It is their internal matter, let them decide."

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He said the JD(S) is committing suicide by fielding Dr Manjunath on a BJP ticket.

Asked about plans to induct BJP MP and former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda into Congress, he said, "It is natural for politicians to contest elections for another party when they are denied a ticket. We will take in anyone who joins the party, accepting Congress party ideology."

Asked specifically if Sadananda Gowda would be given a Congress ticket he said, "I can't comment on that."

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ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.

“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.

The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.

Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.