Bengaluru, March 27 -- A private meeting between Union minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy and Karnataka minister Satish Jarkiholi over a dinner at the former's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday sparked a political curiosity in the southern state.

Neither Kumaraswamy, who holds the heavy industries and steel portfolio at the Centre, nor senior Congress leader Jarkiholi made any official statement regarding the dinner meeting, which was also attended by JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.

Jarkiholi's cabinet and party colleagues in Karnataka, however, downplayed his private meeting with the JD(S) leader.

"We can't ask our ministers and leader not to meet leaders from other parties. I am told th...