Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Feb 5: Even as report about actor Ambareesh's wife, Sumalatha, showing interest to fight the next Lok Sabha election from Mandya constituency on Congress ticket became public, JD(S) leaders, who have been overwhelmed, have started to spew venom. While chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, bluntly wanted to know what were the contributions made by Sumalatha to Mandya district, his party's MLC, K T Srikanthe Gowda, remarked that Sumalatha is not a Mandya Gowdthi (female member of Gowda clan) as she is from Andhra Pradesh.

During the discussions with newspaper editors on Monday, Kumaraswamy wanted to know what contributions were made to Mandya district by Sumalatha. He wanted to know why Sumalatha's name is being coined, and felt that this is just a kind of emotional support.

Sumalatha

On a question about the third generation of Deve Gowda's family entering politics, Kumaraswamy said it is common for children to follow in the footsteps of their parents. He however, hastened to say that the party is yet to take a decision on fielding Nikhil in the Lok Sabha election.

K T Srikanthe Gowda, who said that Sumalatha is a rank outsider, by branding her as an Andhra Pradesh Gowdthi, started getting brickbats from Ambareesh's fans almost immediately. These fans held protest. Gowda recalled that Ambareesh had clearly said when alive that he would not field his wife or son in the election. "We had chosen him in Lok Sabha election and seen how much work he did for the people of this constituency," he remarked. At the same time he said that Nikhil has been associated with the general public in Mandya since the previous assembly election and therefore fielding him is from here is quite reasonable. "Where can we go searching for Sumalatha after she gets elected?" he questioned, and said that we need people who understand the problems of the people. He also reasoned that Ambareesh had not fought election from Mandya in later days as he knew that the people would defeat him. In retaliation, All Karnataka Ambareesh Fans Club president, Belur Somashekhar, said that Sumalatha is the daughter-in-law of Mandya and the decision about electing her or not would be taken by the people of the district, not by Srikanthe Gowda.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, said that Sumalatha is not wrong in entering politics and that she is welcome to do so. "We are with her and we will extend to her family all kinds of political support," he added.

H D Revanna said that JD(S) legislators represent seven assembly constituencies in Mandya district and decision on whether to support Sumalatha or not would be taken by Deve Gowda.