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Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday expressed confidence about the victory of Congress candidate Venkataramane Gowda in the prestigious Mandya Lok Sabha seat and said that the party will win it by over 2.5 lakh votes.
Venkataramane Gowda, known as 'Star Chandru', is in the fray on the high-profile seat against former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. The BJP and JD-S are fighting the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka as allies. Venkataramane Gowda filed his nomination papers today. Shivakumar said Venkataramane Gowda has helped create jobs for the locals. "The voters of Mandya will bless our candidate. He will win with more than two-and-a-half lakh votes. The people of Mandya have always voted for respect, not for cinema politics but for the politics that affect their livelihoods and lives. Mandya people have always voted for respect of the people. The people of Mandya will vote for Venkataramane Gowda who has created thousands of jobs for the people of Mandya," Shivakumar said. Answering queries, Shivakumar said he had worked honestly for Nikhil Kumarswamy, son of HD Kumaraswamy, who contested the poll in 2019 but lost. Congress and JD-S were in an alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "People didn't vote for him, people said they will vote for the local candidate, that's why we have given tickets to a Vokkaliga, we have given eight tickets to Vokkaligas. Congress party has given ticket to women," he said. Shivakumar played down HD Kumaraswamy's remarks about the contest in Mandya being "dharma yudha" and said, "let them fight it as they want". Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha seats and will vote in two phases on April 26 and May 7. The Congress and JD-S fought the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance and fared poorly. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 17 seats, while the Indian National Congress (INC) won 9, and the Janata Dal (Secular) two seats. (ANI)
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