Sumalatha Ambareesh has defeated Nikhil Kumaraswamy by 90,000 seats to win the Elections at Mandya.
This year the Mandya constituency witnessed an interesting battle as Nikhil Gowda from JD (S)- the son of HD Kumaraswamy and grandson of former PM of India, HD Deve Gowda contested against BJP-backed Sumalatha Ambareesh.
Sumalatha is the wife of late superstar of Kannada, Ambareesh and was expecting that his legacy will help her win this election. Mandya was earlier the seat of JDS which was won by CS Puttaraju in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
And it seems that she has indeed received backing from Ambareesh’s supporters as Sumalatha is leading currently by 85k a lead which is almost impossible now for Nikhil to cover up.
JD (S) Playing Dirty Politics?
Ever since Sumalatha filed for nomination independently, JD (S) camp had become disturbed. Immediately after Sumalatha filed her nomination papers from the Mandya constituency, three women by the same name also filed papers as independent candidates. It indicates that the JDS camp was nervous from the presence of Sumalatha who also received backing from BJP.
This particular seat is quite prestigious for the current chief minister of Karnataka as his family has been frantically carrying campaign in the district. According to analysts, the presence of three candidates by the name of Sumalatha in the contest can be an attempt by the ruling JDS-Congress alliance to confuse the voters.
Did Gowda Camp Fear Sumalatha?
It is quite possible that the JD (S) camp got scared after Sumalatha decided to contest the elections independently after a fallout with Congress. Incidentally, most of the exit polls too predicted victory for Sumalatha who ran a very emotional campaign in her late husband’s name. Apart from BJP she also received support from certain rebels from the Congress and also dissidents from Mandya who followed Ambareesh.
Incidentally, Sumalatha broke off from the coalition of Congress- JD (S) which made the party all the more determined to win the seat. Mandya is considered to be the backyard for the Gowda family and hence a defeat for Nikhil would have been impossible had there have been no Sumalatha.
Her decision has come true as Sumalatha has managed to break the dominance of Gowda family in the Mandya district.
This South Indian parliamentary constituency in Southern Karnataka is a rural general constituency with an estimated literacy level of Mandya is 70.22%. One of the 14 LS seats in Karnataka, it went to voting in the second phase of the elections on April 18, 2019. The constituency comprises the whole of Mandya district and some portions of Mysuru.
