This story is from May 24, 2019

Karnataka election results 2019: Sumalatha Ambareesh grinds CM’s son into Mandya’s soil

The Cauvery heartland of Mandya created history on Thursday after Sumalatha Ambareesh became the first woman independent to be elected to the Lok Sabha from Karnataka.
Karnataka election results 2019: Sumalatha Ambareesh grinds CM’s son into Mandya’s soil
Sumalatha Ambareesh
The Cauvery heartland of Mandya created history on Thursday after Sumalatha Ambareesh became the first woman independent to be elected to the Lok Sabha from Karnataka. It is also for the first time since 1967 that an independent has won a parliamentary seat in the state. Uniquely, the actor’s victory was celebrated by supporters of various parties including the Congress, the BJP, Swaraj India Party and the BSP.
A political novice, Sumalatha braved stiff opposition from the ruling JD(S) that had fielded chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil, to register an impressive win.
Sumalatha’s husband, actor Ambareesh, had been in electoral for over three decades until his demise in November last year, but she never ventured into the political arena except for sporadic campaigning. After Ambareesh’s demise, her husband’s supporters approached the Congress seeking the ticket from the constituency only to be rebuffed. Now, she has become MP within three months.
During counting, Sumalatha had trailed initially, but her tally swelled when votes from Malavalli, Maddur, Mandya, Srirangapatna and Melukote assembly segments were counted. Interestingly, Melukote and Maddur are represented by JD(S) ministers CS Puttaraju and DC Thamanna, who is related to the chief minister.
So confident was Sumalatha of victory that, unlike most political greenhorns, she arrived relatively late at the counting centre. In the morning, she visited Chamundi Hills in Mysuru and offered prayers to goddess Chamundeshwari before dropping into a relative’s house in Mysuru’s Chamarajapuram. She stayed put at the house of a supporter in Mandya and only arrived at 7pm at the counting centre. There were plenty of supporters to cheer her despite the district administration imposing prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC (ban on public gathering) in the entire district.
However, the celebrations had kicked off at noon — it continued through the day — when definitive results began to trickle in. BJP supporters waving party flags also cheered her victory. After the Congress had refused to give her the ticket, the saffron party had seized the chance and declared its support for her in the run-up to the election. JD(S) supporters melted away once it became clear Nikhil didn’t stand a chance. Nikhil himself didn’t turn up.

Voters termed Sumalatha’s victory a triumph of Mandya pride (Mandya swabhimana), something which Sumalatha had banked on when she threw her hat in the ring. She had sought ‘swabhimanada bikshe’ (alms of pride) during her last pubic campaign in Mandya in mid-April, a plea which struck a chord with voters, especially women.
The actor also impressed voters with the way she handled allegations levelled against her by her rivals. Actors Darshan and Yash, who had campaigned extensively for her, had also faced fierce barbs from the JD(S), but Sumalatha refused to rise to the bait. In fact, the unsavoury comments worked against Nikhil. Voters who supported the JD(S) in the assembly election — it holds seven of the eight segments in the constituency — eventually turned against the dynastic politics of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.
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