JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy avenged his son Nikhil’s defeat in Mandya in the 2019 LS elections in style by winning the seat with a margin of 2.8 lakh votes, the highest in the state.
He defeated Congress’ M Venkataramanegowda, a newbie, with ease despite chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy CM DK Shivakumar and agriculture minister Cheluvarayaswamy leading the party’s campaign from the front. The humiliating defeat has shocked Congress as Kumaraswamy, who entered the fray reluctantly after his son refused to contest, got a sizeable lead in all seven assembly segments the Congress had in the 2023 assembly polls.
His victory is being attributed to voters’ sympathy towards him and his party following two back-to-back defeats of Nikhil one in Mandya in the 2019 LS elections against actor Sumalatha Ambareesh and another in 2023 assembly elections in Ramanagar. In 2019, though Congress was in alliance with JD(S), local Congress leaders reportedly worked for Sumalatha.
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