Maddur: Appealing the people of Mandya to give him a chance to represent them in the Parliament, JD(S)-Congress coalition candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy has promised that he will be a true representative of Mandya.

Addressing a poll campaign at Besagarahalli in the taluk on Sunday, Nikhil said that his father and Kumaraswamy always stood by the farming community.

Pointing out that CM Kumaraswamy extended financial assistance to families of the farmers who ended their lives, he said that the CM had made honest efforts to end Cauvery row with Tamil Nadu.

Lashing out at independent candidate Sumalatha Ambarish without naming her, Nikhil said that the people of Mandya have a lot of self-respect and they would not crave for money.

Maintaining that development of the district was more important for him than anything else, he appealed the people to bestow the same confidence that they have in CM Kumaraswamy and H.D. Deve Gowda, on him also.

He further said that poll officials will take appropriate action if his nomination papers were found incorrect. Nikhil later addressed the villagers at K. Honnalagere, in which Transport Minister D.C. Thammanna took part.

Addressing the gathering, Thammanna said that the CM has sanctioned Rs. 8,700 crore for Mandya district in less than a year, when no other CM had allotted not more than Rs. 1000 crore.

Apple garland falls apart

Even as the villagers were getting ready to welcome Nikhil with a huge apple garland weighing about 250 kg, people rushed close to Nikhil to have a chunk of the apple garland and in the melee, the garland came apart even before it could reach  the candidate. The villagers vied with each other for collecting as much apples as they could.

Prior to his start of the campaign for the day, he offered special prayers at Mahadeshwara temple in Somanahalli.