Karnataka: Nikhil Kumaraswamy, Sumalatha Ambareesh to lock horn in Mandya?

Bengaluru, Mar 05: Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy is all set to contest from the Janata Dal (Secular) bastion, Mandya parliamentary constituency, in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections as late congress leader MH Ambareesh's supporters want his wife to contest from the same consituency.

According to reports, Nikhil Kumaraswamy would contest from Mandya irrespective of whether Sumalatha Ambareesh contests from the same constituency or not. He added that senior leaders of JD(S) have decided to field him from Mandya and he would fulfill his responsibilities.

Meanwhile, Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of late Congress minister and former Mandya MP Ambareesh, has confirmed that she would be contesting for Lok Sabha polls from Mandya at the request of the people.

However, Nikhil Kumaraswamy's foray into is politics not going to be cakewalk without support from the Congress leaders of the district.

Former minister and Congress leader A Manju hit out at Janata Dal (Secular), claiming that they announced Nikhil Kumaraswamy as the coalition candidate from Mandya without even consulting Congress. He has pushed for Sumalatha's candidacy from Mandya.

Mandya constituency was once represented by Sumalatha's husband MH Ambareesh. Ambareesh had served as minister of state for Information and Broadcasting in the 14th Lok Sabha, but resigned over his dissatisfaction with the Cauvery Dispute Tribunal award, though the resignation was not formally accepted.

The Congress-JD(S) ruling coalition today held the second round of talks on the tricky issue of seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, with Congress saying they were moving "in the right direction." The two parties had begun formal talks last week with the JDS insisting that 12 of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats be conceded to it, but party supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda indicated Sunday that they were ready to compromise