MANDYA: “Nikhilge matha hakabeku ankondu baruva mathadara mathayandrada thumba Sumalatha anno hesarugalannu nodi ‘Nikhil Elliddiyappa’ antha hudukabekagutthe” (If a voter comes to vote for Nikhil, the voter will have to search his name among the Sumalathas). This is just a sample of the rivals’ game plan to outdo the charisma of actor Sumalatha Ambareesh. By fielding three other candidates, who share the actor’s name, they are trying to create confusion in the minds of the voters and this has drawn flak, especially on social media.
Sumalatha has filed her nomination as an independent while Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is the JD(S)-Congress alliance nominee from Mandya. Meanwhile, one of the three Sumalathas, who had filed her nominations on Tuesday, is expected to withdraw her papers.
Venting their ire on JD(S), netizens have fulminated the regional party to such an extent that, two of them have called it as nothing but JD(S) conceding defeat, while another has said, “They are not strong enough to face the elections”. While another in an abusive tone, said, “You people lack guts and are afraid of a woman.”
Not just that, a few others who have posted the images of three women sharing Sumalatha’s name on their Facebook pages have berated the party, by saying it exposes the cheap politics of JD(S), who have created three Sumalathas just to defeat the genuine candidate. The voters should end such cheap tricks and hence should vote for only Sumalatha after confirming the name and photograph. With this, “Mandya should be free from JD(S)” and the self-respect of the people of the land should be held in high esteem.
Another person, who is mostly believed to be a BJP worker, has posted his comments, saying, “You were flaying us for not fielding the candidate. But what should be done for fielding three candidates having the same name. We will end this cheap politics by supporting Sumalatha in large numbers and it’s a promise by the people of Mandya.”
Darshan Sena Samiti Mandya-R, a Twitter handle of Darshan’s fans, has also taken severe exception to the recent comments of none other than Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who reportedly spoke low of the titles ‘Challenging Star’ and ‘D-Boss’ conferred on Darshan. Without taking Kumaraswamy’s name, the user said, “We the self-respecting people of Mandya will answer on May 23 (the day when counting of votes will be held).”
Meanwhile, Darshan himself had tweeted, asking his fans to maintain calm and not to lend ears to such things which are common during elections. Be it posting any messages or videos, the fans should refrain from the same. Moreover, I have already told in the beginning, “I will neither feel sad nor angry and fans should follow the same.”