Siddaramaiah virtually confirms Mandya is JD(S) seat

HUBBALLI/MANDYA/BENGALURU: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday indicated that the Congress may not back Sumalatha, actor-politician MH Ambareesh’s wife, for the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, saying the seat belongs to the JD(S) and his party cannot ask for it.
Speaking to reporters in Hubballi en route to Badami, the constituency he represents in the legislative assembly, Siddaramaiah dismissed aspirations of Sumalatha being granted a Congress ticket, saying: “Mandya already has a sitting MP from the JD(S) and it is obvious that the seat will be retained by the JD(S).Sumalatha wanting to contest as an independent is her individual decision and she has to take a call.”
The coordination committee chairman’s comments confirm the Mandya candidate will be a person from JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda’s family. Gowda had announced on March 3 that chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son, Nikhil, will contest from Mandya.
On Tuesday, Kumaraswamy’s wife, MLA Anitha visited Mandya to offer a special puja for her son’s success in the Lok Sabha polls. She also defended the foray of the third generation of the Gowda family into electoral politics.
“So what if he contests? We are not taking the backdoor to secure his political career,” Anitha said. “And if you are talking of dynastic politics, is it not true that Siddaramaiah’s son is an MLA? Is it not true that Yeddyurappa’s sons are also in politics?”
Asked whether there was no other candidate from the JD(S) to contest from Mandya, Anitha said the decision to field Nikhil was taken by senior leaders in the party after holding parleys with local leaders. “However, if there are some who continue to oppose (his candidacy), then we cannot help those with corrupt minds,”Anitha said.
Echoing the same thoughts, transport minister DC Thammanna, kin of Gowda through marriage, claimed there is nothing wrong in family members contesting elections. Thammanna’s daughter is married to Gowda’s son Dr Ramesh.
“We found Nikhil to have political acumen at a young age and he has also been campaigning for the party,” Thammanna said. “There is nothing wrong in his contesting elections. When there is a family of Nehru which continues to be the mainstay of the Congress party and those like Yeddyurappa whose children are in politics, what is wrong in Nikhil contesting?”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to raise the issue of “namdar” (dynastic politics) when he visits Karnataka on Wednesday. Asked if it would hurt the image of the JD(S), Thammanna dismissed it saying: “Their party also has several dynastic politicians in the state and outside.”