Melukote BJP candidate accuses Sumalatha, says her stray comment made him lose

Mandya: Dr. Indresh N S, the BJP candidate of Melukote constituency of Mandya district faced defeat in the recent assembly elections in Karnataka. In a statement, he has attributed his loss to Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha Ambareesh.

Indresh accused the Independent MP of assisting the victorious candidate Darshan Puttannaiah in the Assembly elections. He claimed that Sumalatha had initially supported the BJP before the elections but made a statement just days before the polls stating that Darshan Puttannaiah must emerge victorious.

Indresh, along with party workers, opposed her statement and plans to address this matter during an upcoming party meeting. According to Indresh, an intelligence report suggested that Indresh was projected to receive 38,000 votes.

Indresh also stated that after Sumalatha’s statement in Pandavapura, there was a sudden drastic shift in the constituency’s voting patterns. As per Indresh’s statement, the people did not want JDS leader C S Puttaraju to return to power, resulting in a significant reduction in his vote share.

Earlier in March, Sumalatha had declared her support for the BJP and campaigned in certain areas of Mandya on behalf of the party’s candidates. Darshan Puttannaiah, a candidate from the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha (SKP), secured victory in the Melukote Assembly constituency, defeating JDS candidate C S Puttaraju by a margin of 10,862 votes. Puttannaiah also received support from the Congress party.

At this point, it is important to note that during the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Mandya, when Sumalatha contested as an Independent candidate, SKP had supported her. In response to this allegation made by Indresh, Belur Somashekhar, a close aide of Sumalatha, accused Indresh of hatching a conspiracy against the MP. He stated that before Sumalatha extended her support to the BJP, certain conditions were put forth, particularly regarding her commitment to not campaign against Darshan Puttannaiah due to support she received from farmer organizations.

Somashekhar emphasized that Sumalatha never directly campaigned for Puttannaiah anywhere, and if she had done so, he would have won by a larger margin. He criticized Indresh for his comments and suggested that there might be certain individuals who are behind Indresh’s statements.