MYSURU: Sending a strong message, former Chief Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy announced that his son Nikhil will fight from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency as the ruling BJP gears up for the Assembly election with battle lines already drawn in the Vokkaliga stronghold.
This has pitted actress Sumalatha Ambreesh, who recorded a resounding victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, against JDS youth president, Nikhil. Sumalatha’s victory came on a sympathy wave as an independent candidate with the campaign steadily strengthened by the support of actors Yash and Darshan along with a brigade of Ambreesh fans.
In an apparent retort to Sumalatha for her statement that Nikhil will fail to win a Zilla Panchayat seat without invoking his grandfather HD Deve Gowda or his father’s name and accusing JDS MLAs of being non-cooperative, Kumaraswamy announced his son as a candidate from Madnya.
Kumaraswamy maintained that Nikhil lost the Lok Sabha polls due to a conspiracy of the Congress, BJP and Raitha Sangha, and claimed that the people are waiting to reply in the elections since the sitting MP, who sailed through due to the sympathy factor, has failed to fulfil people’s aspirations.
He exuded confidence in humbling Sumalatha. Vokkaligas are with the JDS despite KPCC chief DK Shivakumar working on plans to cut into the community’s vote bank in the Old Mysuru region, he added.
Although the people of Mandya revere HD Deve Gowda, said Ambreesh Fans’ Club president Somashekar, they are against Kumaraswamy, who has not inherited any of his father’s qualities. He claimed that Sumalatha will win for the second time against Nikhil even if Kumaraswamy contests the polls, and observed that the announcement will fuel the polarisation of votes in favour of Sumalatha, who has drawn the attention of both Centre and State on the plight of farmers in Mandya district.