Mandya, Mar 1: Sumalatha Ambareesh lambasted Congress leaders on Thursday, claiming some of them are an “obstacle” in her path to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Mandya constituency on a Congress ticket. Sumalatha, wife of actor-politician MH Ambareesh, also claimed that some Congress leaders are dissuading her from contesting even as an independent.
Following a tour of Mandya district during which she met Congress leaders from the district including veteran politicians G Madegowda, HD Chowdaiah and MS Atmananda and party workers, Sumalatha, without naming anyone, said she is being pressured to contest from a constituency in Bengaluru.
“I am being pressurized to give up my husband’s constituency,” she said. “I have been given options to contest parliamentary polls from any constituency in Bengaluru. Why should I give up Mandya just because it should be given to JD(S) as per a seat-sharing formula?”
Suggesting she could stand as an independent, Sumalatha said she will honour the sentiments of people and not “any decision of the Congress party”.
“I have been receiving a positive response from people with regard to my candidature,” Sumalatha said. “If a situation arises where I have to choose between the Congress party’s decision that forbids me from contesting or people’s sentiments that I contest, surely I will choose people’s sentiments.”
G Madegowda assured Sumalatha that he should ask the party high command to give her the ticket as Ambareesh had contributed much to the Congress party. However, he told her that if the party ticket is not given to her and if she contests as an independent or a candidate of another party, “he will not support her since he is a true Congressman”.
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