Mandya: Even as speculations are doing the rounds on actress Ramya contesting the Assembly polls from Mandya, former Minister and Mandya MLA Ambarish met veteran Congress leader G. Madegowda at his (Ambarish) close aide and Congress party worker Amarvathi Chandrashekar’s residence on the outskirts of Mandya city on Friday evening.

Ambarish after attending the inaugural ceremony of Panchamukhi Temple at Hosabudarur village in the taluk on Friday, visited the constituency after he learnt that the Congress would field actor-turned politician Ramya in the 2018 Assembly polls from Mandya.

According to sources, the two discussed the entry of Ramya to Mandya politics, change of Mandya District Congress President and other local issues.

It is also said that Madegowda, during the course of the meeting, told Ambarish that people have lost hopes on him, as he was away from the constituency for a long time.

Ambarish sought his support in the forthcoming elections to which Madegowda is said to have assured to support the candidate fielded by the Congress.

Madegowda reacting to the meeting with Ambarish, said that he had not visited Ambarish when he was suffering from health issues and thus, he met him now. ‘I asked him to concentrate more on the constituency’, he said.

Meanwhile, former MP and actor Ramya, who has reportedly shown interest in returning to State politics is said to have been meeting the Congress party workers in Mandya.

Ramya is said to be taking active part in the Congress party’s Mane-Manege Congress programme in the city. However, the Congress High Command is yet to finalise the name of its candidate from Mandya Assembly segment.

Amidst all these political developments within the Congress, Ramya who is currently heading the Congress social media wing at the National level in Delhi is said to be in regular touch with Congress workers from Mandya.

Ramya who had taken a house on rent in Mandya when she contested the bypolls from Mandya Loksabha in 2013, is now said to have purchased a bungalow located on K.R. Road in Vidyanagar at a cost of Rs. 5.5 crore.

The bungalow belonged to former MLA Sadat Ali Khan, who is close to former CM S.M. Krishna.

Ramya who is currently staying in Delhi, will perform ‘Gruha Pravesha’ of the newly purchased bungalow in Mandya marking her birthday, it is said.

Even as speculations are doing the rounds in the city of Ramya purchasing the bungalow, District Congress leader Haluwadi Nagaraj, speaking to SOM said that Ramya’s purchase of the bungalow was only rumours. The bungalow owner Sadat Ali Khan has ‘gifted’ the bungalow to Ramya and as such the question of purchasing it does not arise.

Maintaining that Ramya was busy handling the AICC’s responsibility bestowed on her, Nagaraj said that Ramya returning to Mandya now was very much doubtful as Gujarat elections are due in December.