Bengaluru: After playing 'hide and seek' with Congress party leaders for the last three days, incumbent Mandya MLA and popular Sandalwood actor M.H. Ambareesh has reportedly decided to stay away from electoral politics for the time being.
This has triggered speculation that Ambareesh might try to prove his strength by not campaigning for party candidates in Mandya district which is considered to be his pocketburrough. His staying away from the campaign in Mandya district is likely to help the Janata Dal (S) to an extent as the Mandya Congress would virtually be left with no senior Vokkaliga leader with veteran S.M. Krishna in the BJP and Ambareesh remaining away from the campaign. This will give a free run to JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda and his son H.D. Kumaraswamy in the district during the crucial Assembly polls scheduled for May 12.
Another section in the Congress contends that the party will try to make up for Ambareesh's loss by deploying another Vokkaliga strongman, Energy Minister, D. K. Shivakumar and Nagamangala MLA, N. Cheluvarayaswamy who recently crossed over from the JD(S) to Congress.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior party functionary said that Ambareesh is not likely to press for the Mandya ticket for any of his supporters to prove his point. “It all began with Ambareesh being dropped from the cabinet almost two years ago and since then, he has been nursing a grudge against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over this issue. He was upset with the fact that he was dropped citing his non-performance as minister and his ill health. So he wants to prove a point by taking a break from electoral politics,” the source explained.
Although, the party cleared him a ticket for him in its first list itself, he remained incommunicado. Party leaders did make efforts to reach out to him through Bengaluru Development minister, K.J. George. But without revealing his plans, he continued to dodge senior party leaders. The source further argued that the party offered Ambareesh a ticket due to his seniority despite knowing the fact that he may lose in the polls.
