Bengaluru: Ending speculation about her entering the Lok Sabha fray, Sumalatha Ambarish, widow of former minister M.H. Ambarish, on Wednesday met former CM Siddaramaiah and expressed her desire to contest the polls from Mandya on a Congress ticket.
The yesteryear popular actress met the senior Congress leader to convey the sentiments of fans of her late husband that she should contest from Mandya, represented by Ambarish twice. These fans and local Congress leaders felt she was the best choice to carry forward the work done by her husband in the constituency.
"Although I never wanted to enter politics, there is constant pressure from friends and well-wishers of my husband to contest. As a first step, I am putting forth my request before the Congress party with which my husband had a long association, to consider my name for Mandya since no decision has been taken on giving that seat to the JD(S). Besides, the Congress has a strong base in Mandya. If the party says it is helpless, I will go by the people's decision but there is no question of going to another party".
Ms Sumalatha also explained to Siddaramaiah the support she was sure to receive from the film fraternity if she contested. “I’ll visit Mandya on Thursday to meet the family of martyred CRPF soldier Guru and also of former MLA late K.S. Puttanaiah," she said.
