Samajwadi Party State Unit President S Bangarappa’s residence in Sadashiv Nagar in Bangalore on Sunday became a beehive of activity as a large number of ticket -seekers from different parts of State made a queue before the residence.

Many prominent leaders, especially those who were denied tickets by the two major political parties-Congress and BJP- lined up before Bangarappa’s residence.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on Sunday, Bangarappa confirmed that talks are being held with the Congress regarding sharing of seats between the two parties.

“As no party will get a clear majority in this election, there is a need for an alliance between the secular parties to defeat the communal BJP. Talks did take place with the JD(S), but they failed. If everything goes well, we will arrive at an understanding with the Congress. But we will not enter into an agreement forsaking our honour and dignity. If such a situation arises, we will contest independently. But so far talks have not taken a concrete shape”, Bangarappa stated. Asked how many seats his party would demand from Congress, Bangarappa replied “100”. However he hastened to add that it was not important how many seats his party contested. “What is important is how many seats we can win”, he added.

Bangarappa said there was very little time for holding negotiations with the Congress. “These talks should have started about a month ago. Let us hope that some thing will emerge by April 22”, he added.