05 April,2024 02:53 PM IST | Bengaluru | mid-day online correspondent
Sumalatha Ambareesh joined BJP on Friday/ X
Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent Member of Parliament from Mandya, Karnataka, officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday. Veteran BJP stalwarts B S Yediyurappa, B Y Vijayendra, R Ashoka, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, and D V Sadananda Gowda welcomed her at the party's state headquarters in Bengaluru, reported PTI.
Per the PTI report, BJP ceded the Mandya seat to its alliance partner JD(S) in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024; Sumalatha, on Wednesday, declared her decision to join the BJP after speaking with her supporters and well-wishers in Mandya. Despite initially seeking a BJP ticket for re-election in Mandya, previously represented by her late husband MH Ambareesh, she accepted the party's decision to offer the seat to the JD(S), the report added.
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According to the report, HD Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) state president and former chief minister, is now the alliance's joint candidate in Mandya, hoping to get Sumalatha's support in the polls.
Sumalatha won the Mandya seat as an independent candidate with BJP support in the 2019 elections, defeating then-Chief Minister Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) by a large margin, the report added.
Sumalatha's foray into politics in 2019, following the denial of a Congress ticket in Mandya, where her late husband was well-known, was a watershed moment. Her victory in the 2019 elections was ascribed to a sympathy wave following her husband's death.
Popular Kannada film actors such as Darshan Thoogudeepa, Yash (Naveen Kumar Gowda), and her son Abishek Ambareesh all supported her campaign.
According to the news agency ANI, Sumalatha, after joining the BJP, said, "During my election in 2019, the Congress was in alliance with JD(S). Yes, I was supported by Congress workers, it was not the party leadership that ever gave me space or supported me. Ambareesh's supporters stood by me. Now when some people try to take credit for it, I don't know how logical it is. The (Congress) leadership never approached me in all these 5 years. I believe in the leadership of Modi and his ability to convert his vision into reality...My journey to join the BJP has been gradual. I am hoping I will add value to the party and the party will strengthen its base in Mandya."
