‘Sticking point?’ BJP’s call on Mandya Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka keenly watched

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The tussle for Mandya seat

The JD(S) is firm on this seat- which is located between Bengaluru and Mysuru as the constituency is dominated by Vokkaligas, the community that forms its strong voter base.

The party headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda has already conducted multiple rounds of meetings under its state president HD Kumaraswamy to decide on the candidate.

Incidentally in 2019, Sumalatha had defeated the then chief minister Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil, the joint candidate of the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Mandya, known in Kannada as ‘Sakkare Naadu‘ (land of sugar).

The JD(S) has started firming up plans for Mandya; though there is pressure on HD Kumaraswamy to contest, former minister and ex-MP CS Puttaraju might get the ticket, if the former chooses not to, party sources said.

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Sumalatha’s candidacy from the party

Sumalatha came into the picture in 2019 after the death of her husband and popular film star MH Ambareesh, who had earlier represented Mandya in the Lok Sabha.

In that election, she had defeated Nikhil Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), Deve Gowda’s grandson, by a huge margin of 1,25,876 votes.

However, BJP sources said that this time, the party may leave the Mandya seat to its alliance partner.

This is despite many local leaders supporting Sumalatha’s candidacy from the party and opposing the move to give the seat to JD(S).

Not wanting to comment much on who will get the Mandya ticket, HD Kumaraswamy has been maintaining that the BJP high command will announce the decision.

Sumalatha too has expressed confidence about getting the ticket from Mandya reposing faith with the BJP central leadership. She had earlier met the party’s top brass including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and national president JP Nadda.

“The High Command (BJP) has to say, they have to make a decision. My decision, not to leave Mandya, is always strong,” she has said.

Asked if she will contest, even if the BJP denies her the ticket, she said, “Wait for a couple of days, maximum a week, everything will be before you. Let’s speak then. My desire is to become a BJP MP.”

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Congress banking on its poll guarantees

If the BJP cedes Mandya’s seat to the JD(S), it remains to be seen whether Sumalatha will contest as an independent once again, as she did in 2019, after Congress denied her the ticket and gave it to the JD(S). Sumalatha rode on a sympathy wave following her husband’s death.

Popular Kannada film stars like Darshan and Yash had campaigned for her then. Darshan has said he will campaign and support her this time too, addressing her as “mother”.

Congress, banking on its guarantee schemes being implemented, has fielded Venkatarame Gowda (Star Chandru), a contractor, as its candidate from Mandya, despite opposition from within the party.

Gowda is the brother of Independent MLA from Gauribidanur KH Puttaswamy Gowda, who backed the Congress in the recent Rajya Sabha polls.

Mandya has eight Assembly segments, out of which six are represented by the Congress, and one each by the JD(S) and the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha.

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