MYSURU: Every election — the Assembly or the Lok Sabha polls — the constituency of Mandya always witnesses a high-voltage battle.
In 2019, the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency saw a fight between political debutant and actor Sumalatha Amabreesh and Nikhil Kumaraswamy. Sumalatha won the high-voltage polls as an independent.
Now, the ‘Sugar Bowl of Karnataka’ is witnessing a prestigious battle with state JDS chief and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy entering the fray as an NDA candidate after the JDS and BJP stitched an alliance to contest this year’s Lok Sabha elections.
The JDS wanted HD Kumaraswamy to contest from the Vokkaliga heartland so that ripples could be felt in neighbouring Bengaluru Rural and Mysuru-Kodagu constituencies and help the NDA candidates in those segments.
Though the JDS claims Mandya as its bastion, the party tasted defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with Nikhil, son of Kumaraswamy and grandson of party patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, losing to Sumalatha. Determined to breach the fort of Mandya this time, Kumaraswamy has thrown his hat into the ring, with the BJP’s backing.
As far as political pundits are concerned, Kumaraswamy has taken a big gamble by contesting in Mandya. If he wins, it will be his political rebirth after the JDS’ poor show in the 2023 Assembly elections, and he even could get into the Union Cabinet if the NDA wins. But a loss will have disastrous implications for the JDS-BJP alliance, the future of the JDS, and the Gowda family.
A win for Kumaraswamy will be a challenge to KPCC chief and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar for the Vokkaliga leadership and supremacy in Mandya and Hassan regions in Old Mysuru.
Knowing these factors and the changed political scenario in Karnataka, the JDS has reached out to all BJP leaders and even to Kumaraswamy’s one-time political foe, Narayana Gowda, a former minister, to ensure that the former CM does not meet the same fate as his son Nikhil.
JDS leaders feel that Kumaraswamy, who recently underwent surgery for a heart ailment, will get the support of the Vokkaliga voters. They claim that the Congress candidate ‘Star’ Chandru is no match for Kumaraswamy and his family’s political legacy.
The Congress, meanwhile, claims that it is not going to be a cakewalk for Kumaraswamy in Mandya, as the consolidation of AHINDA (an acronym for minority, backward classes, and Dalits) votes and the division of the Vokkaliga vote will topple the apple cart of the JDS.
To win, Kumaraswamy must also cut into the AHINDA votes, as the constituency does not have sizeable upper caste voters other than the Vokaligas. Kumaraswamy should also counter the ‘outsider vs insider’ campaign carried out by several Congress leaders.
Meanwhile, the Congress and JDS are closely watching the developments in the Sumalatha camp, as she is reportedly upset after not getting a BJP ticket. The sitting MP has announced that she will announce her next course of action on March 3. The elections in Mandya will become more interesting if Sumalatha enters the fray as an independent. The Congress camp claims that the veteran actress will support the Grand Old Party, as they worked for her victory in 2019.
Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy has said that Sumalatha is ‘not a permanent enemy’ and will stay with the NDA to win Mandya to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership at the Centre.