Officials defeated Sowmya in Jayanagar: DKS

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar alleged that Congresswoman Sowmya Reddy hadn’t lost from the Jayanagar Assembly but had been sabotaged, adding that officials involved had apologized to the candidate’s father and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy.

The Karnataka Congress chief made the comments during a rally leading up to Sowmya filing her nomination as the Congress candidate for Bengaluru South Lok Sabha seat.

“Sowmya Reddy did not lose the Assembly election from Jayanagar but she was defeated by officials. I heard that the officials who were involved later apologised to Ramalinga Reddy. I urge the party workers and voters to elect her with a big margin,” Shivakumar claimed.

Reddy’s defeat from Jayanagar had come in a controversial fashion last May.

Counting for most seats is usually wrapped up by late afternoon. Sowmya had been leading BJP candidate CK Ramamurthy by 294 votes. However, Congress workers alleged that Ramamurthy and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya had insisted on counting discarded ballots with broken seals.

This “re-count” ensured Ramamurthy won by 16 seats, the lowest victory margin in the Assembly elections.

“Sowmya Reddy is a very creative and hardworking person. All Assembly constituencies including Bommanahalli, Basavanagudi will give her big margins. There is no Modi wave or BJP wave in the State. There is only one wave and that is Congress Guarantee wave,” Shivakumar said.