Bengaluru: Karnataka's ruling coalition allies, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and the Congress, are engaged in an intense engagement over the seat-sharing arrangement in the state, particularly in the JD-S stronghold of Mandya.
While JD-S leader and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's son and Kannada actor Nikhil Gowda has said the party leadership agreed to field him from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, Sumalatha, multi-lingual actress and the widow of late Congress leader M.H. Ambareesh, has expressed her wish to contest from the constituency on a Congress ticket.
Ambareesh was Congress member of the Lok Sabha from Mandya. He passed away in November last year. The seat is currently represented by L.R. Shivarame Gowda of the JD-S.
While JD-S supremo H.D. Deve Gowda had said he had given his "consent" to 29-year-old Nikhil for contesting from the seat, Congress leader Siddaramaiah ruled out fielding Sumalatha as its candidate from Mandya, as it would be contested by the JD-S.
However, Sumalatha has been campaigning across the district and said she was ready to contest even as an Independent from Mandya.