Sumalatha, who trounced Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil K. with a massive margin on Thursday, surprisingly failed to get the lead in Nagamangala Assembly constituency, where she had been receiving tremendous political support ever since she decided to contest in February.
The Mandya Lok Sabha constituency comprises of eight Assembly segments, including the Krishna Raja Nagar of Mysuru district.
The Nagamangala Assembly segment was considered the epicentre of dissident activities of both the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) ever since the announcement of the parliamentary elections. While a faction of the JD(S) was against the candidacy of Mr. Nikhil citing that his representation would deter the political fortunes of second and third line leaders, a majority of the Congress leaders were seen openly extending political support to Ms. Sumalatha on the other hand.
Supporters of both L.R. Shivarame Gowda, who won the Lok Sabha byelections from the seat in 2018, and former bureaucrat Lakshmi Ashwin Gowda were against the JD(S) fielding Mr. Nikhil in the elections. It was analysed that Ms. Sumalatha would get a massive lead in Nagamangala.
Nevertheless, Mr. Nikhil, the new entrant from former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s family, secured 83,619 votes in Nagamangala where Ms. Sumalatha polled 76,177 votes.
According to the data obtained from the Election Commission, the veteran actor and wife of late actor-politician M.H. Ambareesh, managed to get a lead of 13,571 votes in Malavalli Assembly segment, 29,271 in Mandya, 27,779 in Srirangapatna, 18,967 in Maddur, 15,886 in Melkote, 6,824 I Krishna Raj Pete and 2,765 votes in Krishna Raja Nagar Assembly constituencies.
All the eight Assembly segments in Mandya Lok Sabha constituency and three MLC constituencies are being represented by the veteran JD(S) leaders. Furthermore, L.R. Shivarame Gowda of the JD(S) was the incumbent MP. However, all of them failed to ensure Mr. Nikhil’s victory, said senior JD(S) leaders here. Melkote, Maddur and Krishna Raja Nagar Assembly constituencies are being represented by Minor Irrigation Minister C.S. Puttaraju, Transport Minister D.C. Thammanna and Tourism Minister S.R. Mahesh respectively.
Most of the senior leaders, even Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Nikhil, caused massive damages to the party during electioneering through their disparaging remarks [against Ms. Sumalatha and her family] and rude mannerisms. Everyone was confident of Mr. Nikhil winning. However, unwanted controversies during electioneering and their failure to take the disappointed Congress leaders into confidence helped Ms. Sumalatha win, they said.
Introspection meeting
Meanwhile, the JD(S) leaders have decided to convene an introspection meeting, expected to be convened by the party’s national president H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru shortly to discuss about the reasons for the dismal show of the party in Mandya.
