Mandya: With young actor Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, who is contesting as JD(S) candidate and senior actress Sumalatha, wife of late actor-tuned-politician Ambarish, declaring on Monday that she will contest as an independent, the battle lines have been drawn for the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, which has turned prestigious for CM H.D. Kumaraswamy.

While Nikhil is banking heavily on the name of his father CM H.D. Kumaraswamy and grandfather H.D. Deve Gowda, JD(S) supremo and former PM, Sumalatha hopes to ride on the sympathy wave following the demise of Ambarish in November last year.

As per the seat-sharing deal between the coalition partners — JD(S) and Congress — the Mandya seat went to JD(S).

Mandya is a strong hold of JD(S), which won all the seven Assembly segments in the district in the May 2018 Assembly polls. While pollsters are debating on the chances of both Nikhil and Sumalatha, the Mandya poll will be a close contest between the two.

Sumalatha’s husband late actor-turned-politician was with the Congress and had even served as a Minister in the Siddharamaiah Government.

Ambarish, a native of Chikka Arasinakere in Maddur, has a large fan following in the district. Ambarish’s popularity as a film actor earned him a big fan following and Sumalatha is banking on the fans and followers of Ambarish to see her through in the LS polls.

As far as Nikhil Kumaraswamy is concerned, the plus point for him is that he is the son of CM H.D. Kumaraswamy and has the full support of all the eight MLAs falling under the LS segment, who all happen to be JD(S) Legislators.

Kumaraswamy had also announced many doles for Mandya in the Budget presented by him in February last, which Nikhil hopes will be advantageous for him.

Although Sumalatha has the backing of the film Industry, she  has drawbacks too and one of them is that she is contesting as an independent and not as a candidate of the Congress, which her late husband was associated with for long.

Likewise, the tag that he is an outsider and has no political experience, the controversial statements by JD(S) leaders against Sumalatha, may prove to be a hindrance for Nikhil, who is heavily banking on his father’s image and support from local JD(S) leaders.

By Nagaiah Lalanakere