BJP denied reports that the party has invited former cricket captain Anil Kumble to join the party and offered him a Lok Sabha seat. "We have neither invited Kumble to join our party,nor has anyone approached the party on his behalf," Karnataka BJP President D V Sadananda Gowda told a press conference in Bangalore,refuting media reports that he had been offered a Lok Sabha seat in the city. "Kumble is a national asset. We also aspire for him. However,wherever he is or whatever party he joins,he remains an asset," Gowda said. After delimitation of constituencies,the number of Lok Sabha seats in the city had gone upto to three from two. Apart from Bangalore North and South parliamentary constituencies,Bangalore Central had been carved out. The BJP has been scouting for winning candidates in Bangalore North and Bangalore Central. In Bangalore North,its MP and former DGP,H T Sangliana quit the party and joined the Congress. He had also been disqualified from his Lok Sabha membership for defying the party whip during the trust vote in July last. Meanwhile,Kumble's wife Chetana dismissed reports of her husband entering politics and termed it as "rumours". "It is all a rumour. He has no interest in politics," she said and added that he is currently away from India.
