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.