Mandya: The Mandya Lok Sabha constituency has been in the news for quite some time now. People are eager to see who emerges victorious in the poll battle between independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh and Congress-Janata Dal (S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy. Now with just two days left for the polls, JD(S) leader C S Puttaraju has come up with a new twist in the story stating that Sumalatha is preparing to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Puttaraju has claimed that he has a video to prove this and that he would release a CD of the same very soon.
Speaking to media, Puttaraju said, “Sumalatha has had a meeting with the BJP in a hotel. She has demanded a union minister post after joining the party. The meeting between Sumalatha and BJP leaders has been captured in a video and I will release the video in a few days.”
There has been a lot of speculations that Sumalatha will join the BJP after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his election rally in Karnataka, urged the people to support Sumalatha. At the same time, the rebel Congress leaders are campaigning in support of Sumalatha. Exasperated by this, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Dinesh Gundu Rao has reportedly suspended 5 party leaders for involving in anti-party activities.
However, responding to the allegations of joining the BJP, Sumalatha said, “I have already made it clear in a press meet in Mandya’s Shankarnagar that I will not be joining hands with any party. People against me will come up with a new story everyday. They will say that I will join the BJP on a certain day and the Congress some other day. They might even say that I will join JD(S). I am an independent candidate. People who are supporting me are doing it without any condition. After winning the election, I will support the party which the people of my constituency want.”
