Daijiworld Media Network - Mandya (SP)

Mandya, Mar 5: Sumalatha Ambareesh reiterated that she has made up her mind to enter the election fray here against Nikhil Kumaraswamy of the JD(S). She said that the thought of possible defeat does not discourage her from contesting the Lok Sabha election.

She was interacting with media persons after handing over gift deed pertaining to 20 guntas of land owned by her to the family of slain soldier, H Guru. "I am not engaging in some war to be afraid of debacle. Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. There is no doubt that I will enter Lok Sabha election this time from this constituency," she asserted. She also explained that she has sought Congress ticket and wait for a few days for the party's decision, adding that she would announce her decision after that.

Sumalatha revealed that several Congress leaders had approached her and suggested to pick Bengaluru (north) or (south) constituency for herself. She revealed that a few months ago, they had proposed to make her a member of the legislative council but that she had rejected this proposal.

In an apparent rebuttal to Kimaraswamy's claim that Ambareesh had done nothing to this constituency, Sumalatha said that people know what Ambareesh did for them. "When he was housing minister, he got a number of houses sanctioned to the people. Although he encountered severe health problems then, he worked for the people's welfare," he added.

She also said that her husband had got grants for a number of community halls, school compounds and other projects and he never advertised about what he did and never tried to get free publicity. She said she has planned to settle down in the town by building a house in the landed property inherited by her husband at Manjunath Nagar here.