BENGALURU: In May 2019, actor-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh won the Mandya constituency seat. Now, exactly seven months later, Sharath Bache Gowda has won the bypolls from Hoskote. Both had contested as Independent candidates, and had sought votes in the name of ‘swabhimaana’, or self-respect, and won.
The battle for the Mandya Lok Sabha seat was a tough one, with Sumalatha winning more than 1.25 lakh votes. Wife of senior Congress leader and three-time MP, late Ambareesh, Sumalatha sought a ticket from Congress, which was denied, making her choose the Independent route. Leaders from the Congress and JDS tried convincing her otherwise, even offering to make her an MLC, but she insisted on contesting. Then, the BJP, which fielded candidates in all seats in Karnataka apart from Mandya, decided to back her.
While several big leaders, including then-CM H D Kumaraswamy and other senior ministers from the coalition government were in Mandya for campaigning, no one campaigned for Sumalatha.
Sharath faced a similar situation. The son of a senior BJP leader, Sharath was not given a ticket, and was also told not to contest. He was even offered a plum post as head of boards and corporation, which he denied, and decided to contest against BJP’s MTB Nagaraj. The JDS did not field a candidate, extending their support to Sharath. While CM B S Yediyurappa and other ministers were in Hoskote campaigning for Nagaraj, Sharath still managed to win by more than 11,000 votes.
A senior BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said that in both cases, Opposition parties helped these Independents win. “In Mandya, local BJP leaders were openly seen supporting Sumalatha, in Hosakote, JDS leaders supported Sharath. Both sought tickets in the name of swabhimaana, which worked for them. They took big risks, and losing the election would have been the end of their political careers.