Nikhil twice bitten, thrice not shy?

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: JD(S) Karnataka Youth Wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy is all set to undertake a tour of Mandya district, fueling rumours that he might be fielded from the Lok Sabha constituency again.

JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy’s son will be undertaking a campaign to take stock of the Mandya constituency by visiting all of the eight constituencies under the Parliament seat starting next week or the last week of February.

It is to be noted that the actor-turned-politician has been active in meeting party workers from various districts even as seat sharing talks between JD(S) and alliance partner BJP heat up.

Kumaraswamy was also rumoured as a contender for the Mandya ticket. Nikhil had contested from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general elections in alliance with the Congress.

However, he had lost to BJP-backed independent Sumalatha Ambareesh by a huge margin of 1,25,876 seats.

Mandya was considered a safe seat for the JD(S) since it is very much a part of the Vokkaliga heartland, where they retain considerable support.

In last May’s Assembly elections, the JD(S) scion had contested from Ramanagara – another party stronghold – and lost to Congressman NA Iqbal Hussain.

These two losses were so significant that his father Kumaraswamy had advised him to leave politics momentarily and focus on his acting career.

It is to be noted that Sumalatha visited BJP national president JP Nadda and party national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh in New Delhi on Thursday in a bid to retain a chance to contest from Mandya again.

JD(S) on the other hand appears to be closing in on three to four seats in the seat sharing formula.

Among the seats the JD(S) is keen on are Hassan and Mandya, besides one or more of Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru Rural.