Bangalore, July 14: AIADMK's Karnataka unit has said it would request Tamil Nadu chief minister and party supremo J Jayalalithaa to allow it to contest 50 assembly seats and five Lok Sabha seats in the next elections. The state unit also decided to hold statewide demonstrations on July 27 demanding that Kannada news be telecast by Bangalore Doordarshan instead of Hindi news in the same slot in the night, as Tamil news was being telecast in Tamil Nadu.

The party passed a resolution to this effect at its state unit council meeting here yesterday in which party president and MLA M Bhaktavachalam, district organisers and others took part, according to its secretary VA Pugazendi. On the Kolar gold mines, the resolution said it had been closed for the last two years and the workers were living in penury. The party would agitate on this issue for reopening of the mines, it said.

It also asked the Karnataka government to ban online lottery, saying it adversely affected people's lives.

Bureau Report