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Sumalatha was eyeing a BJP ticket from Mandya. But, the BJP allotted the ticket to its NDA partner JDS. Former chief minister HD Kumarawamy is the JDS candidate from Mandya constituency.
Mandya Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha. (File)
Bengaluru: JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, who is now the official candidate of NDA from Mandya Lok Sabha seat on Sunday met sitting MP Sumalatha Ambareesh, and sought her cooperation in the upcoming polls. Sumalatha, a multilingual actress-turned-politician, said she will be announcing her decision on April 3 in Mandya after consulting her supporters and well-wishers and another round of discussions with the BJP leadership.
The wife of popular film star MH Ambareesh, Sumalatha, an independent MP, was seeking a BJP ticket for re-election from Mandya that was represented by her late husband in the past, which the saffron party has now ceded to its alliance partner –JD(S).
“It was a cordial meeting. Ambareesh Anna’s house is not new to me, we had been together for several years. On April 4, I’m filing my nomination from Mandya Lok Sabha segment. In this backdrop, I had come to seek Akka’s (elder sister — Sumalatha) cooperation. We have discussed several matters,” Kumaraswamy said after the meeting at Sumalatha’s residence.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said Sumalatha had held a preliminary meeting with supporters and followers here yesterday and would announce her decision after consulting well-wishers during her visit to Mandya on April 3.
“She too has good relations with BJP and in the previous Lok Sabha polls, the party (BJP) had supported her. She had held discussions with BJP leadership too…there are no demands,” he said, adding everything was discussed openly, the details of which cannot be revealed before the media.
As per the alliance arrangement after several rounds of discussions, BJP had ceded Mandya along with Kolar and Hassan Lok Sabha seats to JD(S).
As an independent candidate, Sumalatha had won the seat in 2019 by defeating the then Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy of JD(S), by a margin of 1,25,876 votes, with BJP’s support.
It was a bitter campaign then, when JD(S) was in an alliance with Congress, and it had seen personal attacks against Sumalatha, and counter-attacks too.
Sumalatha, on her part, said it was a “healthy discussion”, during which Kumaraswamy, asking to forget differences in the past, sought her cooperation.
“I have told him that I need to contact my supporters and well-wishers and seek their consent before making any decision. He agreed to it. I have told him that I will announce my decision in Mandya on April 3,” she said.
Stating that film star Darshan and her son Abishek, also a actor will be along with her at the meeting on April 3, when she will announce the decision, Sumalatha further said, today’s discussions did not revolve around her contesting the polls, but focused around Kumaraswamy being the official candidate of the alliance and the need to strengthen PM Modi’s hand.
“I will have one more round of discussions with BJP leaders for some clarity, after that I will announce my decision before the Mandya people,” she said, noting she has learned lessons politically in the last five years and there is no doubt politics is a “game of chess” and changes keep happening.
Pointing out that this is a similar challenging situation for her that she faced in 2019, when she decided to enter politics and take the electoral plunge as an independent candidate, the Mandya MP said the verdict of her people is important for her, and she doesn’t want to let down the people of Mandya and her well-wishers.
Setbacks are common in life, especially in politics, she said, adding she is not being cornered, as she is the one who will be taking the decision amid the options before her.
“BJP has given me options and also given me an open offer to choose among them, so no one can corner me, nor I consider that I’m being cornered,” she said, adding she never discussed with anyone about son Abishek’s political future so far, as he is focused on films currently. “When Abishek joins politics, I will quit politics.” Sumalatha did not wish to comment on whether Congress had sought her support.
She also said she has a lot of respect for PM Modi and his leadership and indicated that there have been discussions about her officially joining the BJP.
It will be interesting to see if Sumalatha decides to contest as an independent again, as she did in 2019, after Congress denied her the ticket and gave it to JD(S). Sumalatha then had a sympathy wave following her husband’s death and his popularity went in her favour. Popular Kannada film stars like Darshan and Yash had campaigned for her then.
Congress, hoping for success, banking on its populist guarantee schemes, has fielded Venkatarame Gowda (Star Chandru), a contractor by profession as its candidate from Mandya, despite opposition from within. Gowda is the brother of independent MLA from Gauribidanur K H Puttaswamy Gowda, who backed the Congress in the recent Rajya Sabha polls.
Mandya has eight Assembly segments, six of which are represented by Congress and one each by JD(S) and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha.
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