No need to give prominence to Mandya MP Sumalatha: H D Kumaraswamy

PTI, Mar 10, 2023, 6:27 PM IST

Image credit: PTI / File

Hassan: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday said there was no need to give prominence to Mandya MP Sumalatha extending her support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The JD(S) second-in-command also dismissed the charges of illegal mining in Mandya district by local MLAs.

”No one is surprised by this news. In my opinion, we need not have to give prominence to it,” Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

He was reacting to independent MP of Mandya Sumalatha Ambareesh extending her full support to the BJP at the Centre today.

The actor-turned-politician (Sumalatha), who remained a neutral MP till now, said the decision was taken in view of the stability given to India and the reputation India earned across the globe under the leadership of Modi.

Calling Sumalatha, a big person, the JD(S) leader said big people join big party. ”I have not grown to that big level to comment on her. I feel it is not appropriate to react to it,” he said.

Regarding the development works taken up in the district during her tenure, he said people of Mandya will decide on it.

On charges that illegal mining was promoted by the local MLAs, Kumaraswamy said during his stint as Chief Minister twice he never allowed illegal mining. ”I am a clean man,” he said.

The Mandya district has seven assembly constituencies. Of them six are represented by JD(S) and one by BJP.

Sumalatha, wife of prominent Kannada actor late Ambareesh, won the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Mandya defeating former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy.