Bengaluru: Even as Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Gowda has been fielded as the candidate from Mandya constituency, Sumalatha Ambareesh has already started an aggressive election campaign in Mandya.
The Congress had during the seat sharing talks left the seat for its coalition partner JD(S) as Mandya is the heartland of Vokkaliga community. The JD(S) had won all the eight assembly segments under the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency in the 2018 Karnataka elections.
There has been reports that Congress had tried to persuade her not to contest from Mandya, but Sumalatha seems to have refused to back pedal. Her late husband Ambareesh, a former Congress MP, represented Mandya in the Lok Sabha thrice.
JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda launched his grandson Nikhil from the seat amidst speculation, and the party’s sitting MP L R Shivarame Gowda is reportedly upset over not being given the ticket, despite winning the Mandya bypoll a few months ago.
On 15 March, Sumalatha met senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minster S M Krishna and sought his support.
BJP had reportedly said that a decision would be taken by 18 March on whether to field a candidate from Mandya or support Sumalatha by not fielding a candidate. Conceding that there is a demand within the BJP to field a candidate from Mandya, he said.
Clamour is growing within the BJP to induct her into the party and field her as the candidate. A section within the BJP believe that if Sumalatha joins the party and is fielded as a candidate in Mandya, it would help the saffron party, which doesnât have much presence in the Vokkaliga bastion.
Congress, meanwhile, has directed all its workers to back Nikhil. The JDS has alleged that it was BJP’s doing and that the voters of Mandya will not entertain such dirty politics. State Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao has warned the four party leaders supporting Sumalatha that if they do not mend their ways, action would be taken against them.