Sumalatha Joins BJP, to Start Campaigning

Bengaluru: A shot in the arms for State Janata Dal Secular (JDS) and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy who is in the fray as JDS-Bharatiya Janata Party consensus nominee in Mandya parliamentary seat after his party rival in the previous Lok Sabha election Sumalatha Ambaresh will now be campaigning for him in the ensuing election.

The assurance to campaign from Sumalatha came after she joined the BJP in Bengaluru on Friday and she was inducted into the party by State BJP Chief B.Y. Vijayendra. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Sumalatha contested as an independent nominee against JDS-Congress party consensus candidate Nikhil, son of H.D. Kumaraswamy who was then the Chief Minister. Nikhil was defeated by Sumalatha in the election and 2023 she announced her support for the BJP and a year later she joined the BJP.

Over her joining BP, Sumalatha told reporters that she will start campaigning for Janata Dal Secular-BJP consensus nominees once the tour plan is ready. However, she said, Kumaraswamy had sought her support in the ensuing election but has not been invited for his campaigning yet.

“Not only Mandya and if the larger picture is taken into account I have to work to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of 400 seats in the country and win all the 28 seats in Karnataka, " she said and stated, "Now, the party has to decide on my campaigning."

Sumalatha stated that the BJP tried to keep Mandya's seat but the seat went in favour of JDS. It is said that the BJP had sacrificed the Mandya seat for its partner JDS considering the voting pattern in previous elections and Mandya has been a stronghold of JDS.

A couple of days after she made the announcement to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sumalatha was aspiring for a BJP ticket to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha poll from the Mandya parliamentary seat, however, BJP leaders spared the Mandya seat for its ally JDS to contest.

Having missed out on a BJP ticket, Sumlatha held a meeting of her supporters in Mandya a couple of days back and stated that she sacrificed the Mandya seat for JDS and said not to contest the Mandya seat in the ensuing poll as an independent nominee.