DK declined ticket to contest from Mandya seat in 2019 LS polls, Sumalatha reveals

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Who blocked the ticket for Sumalatha Ambareesh when she wanted to contest in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mandya on the Congress party symbol? This was revealed by none other than her in Mandya.

According to her, it was KPCC President DK Shivakumar who declined to give her the Congress ticket to contest from Mandya and asked her to choose another constituency. "My first preference was always the Congress party with which my late husband associated for around 20 years. But I was very much hurt and disappointed when Shivakumar curtly declined to give me the ticket to contest from Mandya on the party symbol.

When I was badly in need of support it came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who openly promised all the support from the BJP. BJP indeed extended me support from outside and that helped me to win the election easily against Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of the then CM, HD Kumaraswamy, following the seat sharing agreement between the Congress and the JDS as the coalition government was in power," Sumalatha disclosed.

The MP said before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, she knocked on the door of every senior Congress leader and requested them to consider her name as the party candidate from Mandya thanks to her late husband's goodwill in Mandya district. While former CM Siddaramaiah was sympathetic towards me but expressed his inability to get her ticket due to an agreement between Congress and JDS.

Several JDS and Congress leaders mocked me and accused her of trying to enter politics just within six months after the death of her husband MH Ambareesh. Ultimately, it was Modi's one call to the people to support her to win the election by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes.

"Yes, I am indebted to BJP for holding my hands at the right time, or else I would have been swept away with no backup from anyone". Sumalatha indirectly hinted at joining BJP saying that she would like to be in a place where she was respected.

The BJP leaders were in touch with her and wanted to join the saffron party but so far no decision has been taken. Her statement on Shivakumar has come as a shocker for the Congress leaders of the Mandya district that too at a time when the Assembly polls are around the corner.

But the BJP leaders were happy with her revelation and they wanted to make it an issue to tell the people of Mandya about the disrespect of the Congress leaders towards Ambareesh who loved the people of Mandya till his last breath. The saffron party, as per instructions of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has to not only open the account in Mandya district but also to win at least four to five seats in the coming Assembly polls.

For this, the BJP has to have the support of Sumalatha Ambareesh who can melt the hearts of the people of Mandya with her emotional speeches as she did in the 2019 LS polls. The BJP has promised a ticket for her son, Abhishek from Maddur which is currently held by DC Thammanna, a close relative of late Ambareesh.