BENGALURU: Former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Mandya and actor Ramya aka Divya Spandana will be campaigning for Congress candidates in Mandya assembly segments, where the Congress had lost all seats to the JDS in 2018. The regional party had come up trumps in all seven assembly segments.
Ramya, who was on a sabbatical, has returned to strengthen the Congress campaign over the next few weeks in Mandya and adjoining areas.
Looking at the 2018 performance, the Congress had lost Malavalli to the Janata Dal (Secular) by nearly 28,000 votes, Maddur by about 55,000 votes, Srirangapatna by 43,000 votes, Nagamangala by about 47,000 votes and KR Pet by about 17,000 votes. The Congress will have a tough task, but in KR Nagar, where it lost by a mere 1,800 votes, there is a lot of expectation that some hard work will yield results.
The Congress will be backing Sarvodaya Karnataka Party and needs to increase its vote share by about 23,000 votes. “Ramya is our star campaigner. The party unit will decide where she will campaign. Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders are also expected to campaign in important districts,’’ Congress working president Saleem Ahmed said.
Former minister B Somashekar, who had represented Malavalli four times on a Janata Party and Janata Dal tickets, and who joined the Congress, said, “I am confident of the Congress doing well in Malavalli, Srirangapatna, Nagamangala, Maddur and am hopeful of good results in KR Pet and Melukote. Janata Dal (Secular) numbers are expected to reduce. It is good that Ramya will be campaigning in Mandya.’’
Meanwhile, Mandya Member of Parliament-actor Sumalatha Ambareesh, who has acted in over 200 films, is expected to campaign for the BJP with the ‘Sandalwood queen’.