Sumalatha out? HDK hints JD(S) may contest from Mandya LS seat

NT Correspondent

Chikkamagaluru: J D(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy raised many an eyebrow when he suggested that his party might field a candidate from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency.

He made the comments during a media interaction on Thursday outside a Chikkamagaluru resort where he and his party colleagues had been staying.

The two-time chief minister expressed confidence in the party’s victory from Mandya even if a common worker were to contest.

The public remarks were met with surprise by some since the sitting Mandya MP is BJP-backed independent Sumalatha Ambareesh and JD(S) contesting from the seat would mean displacing her.

It has been rumoured for a few weeks that Kumaraswamy himself would contest from Mandya and that a JD(S) candidate would compete from Mysuru-Kodagu, which is currently held by BJP MP Pratap Simha.

When asked by a mediaperson whether he would contest from Mandya, Kumaraswamy didn’t deny the possibility.

“In Mandya, the mood is such that even a common worker of ours would win from there. Last time (2019), the elections were different. Even if everyone was with the Congress, maybe only two to three per cent may have voted for us. BJP, Congress and Raitha Sangha (farmers unions) all worked together. This time, the situation is different,” he said, but qualified it with the statement that the alliance partners JD(S) and BJP would hammer out a seat sharing arrangement together.

Kumaraswamy also mocked the Congress for demands for additional deputy chief ministers, which were recently shut down by the party national president Mallikarjun Kharge.