Scion’s widow: Polls not for me

Bangalore: Efforts of the three major political parties, Congress, BJP and JD (S) to get Pramoda Devi, widow of Srikantadatta Wadiyar to contest on their  ticket in the Lok Sabha polls have  reached a dead end with Wadiyar politely rejecting the offers to contest from Mysore-Kodagu seat .Sources in the three parties confirmed this development.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader of the BJP said, "At least a week before AICC vice president, Rahul Gandhi met Wadiyar in her Bangalore Palace, BJP state president, Prahlad Joshi met her and broached the topic requesting her to contest on a saffron party ticket. But, she asserted that she was not interested in  contesting  polls at this juncture."

According to the BJP leader, Wadiyar explained that she was never  interested in politics. She reportedly said, she was inclined to fulfill the responsibilities that had been thrust on her  after the sudden demise of the Prince.

A senior leader in the Congress revealed  that though Gandhi did not broach the topic when he met Wadiyar, other  leaders including AICC general secretary, Digvijay Singh had touched on the topic. "Wadiyar explained that she had not emerged from the shock of her husband's  untimely death.

She  requested the leaders not to force her to contest the polls as she had tremendous respect for both Singh and the  Congress. It was a long standing relationship with the Congress, but she was  not ready to fight a poll," the source explained. When contacted, a senior leader in the JD(S) too claimed that Wadiyar wasn't keen to contest.