Bengaluru, Apr 2: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said discussions were on to seek the support of ten political parties of the INDIA bloc in Karnataka.

Addressing a joint press conference of the INDIA bloc parties including Aam Aadmi Party, he said, "We are discussing the support of about 10 parties of the INDIA bloc in Karnataka. It is not important how many votes they bring to the table but we are more keen on the people who follow their ideology."

"Congress and JD(S) fought the 2019 elections in Tumakuru together. CPI secured 17,000 votes and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda lost the elections by a mere 12,000 votes. We don't want a similar situation in the 2024 elections. Hence, we want all the alliance partners to work unitedly. We are discussing this," he added.

ALSO READ: Don’t fall for Deve Gowda or Kumaraswamy’s tears, Siddaramaiah tells voters in Mysuru

Shivakumar charged that the BJP led union government was making unnecessary allegations about opposition leaders.

"We condemn these action in one voice. BJP is not giving a clear response in the election bonds case. They have given a notice to the Left parties for Rs 11 crore. Prime Minister Modi has to answer the people of the country on these things," he said.

Claiming the Congress will win more than 20 seats in Karnataka, Shivakumar said a coordination committee of all INDIA bloc parties will be formed for better coordination.

He also said all alliance partners have given us a written letter of support.

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Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.

Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.

Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.

In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.

The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.

That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.

Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.

Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.

But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.

Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.

Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.

They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.

However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.

The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.

But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.

It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.

But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.

Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.

Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).

The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.