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Mandya Lok Sabha seat, one of the 28 parliamentary seats in Karnataka, holds important significance for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Janata Dal (Secular), with former two-time chief minister HD Kumaraswamy contesting in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Friday.
Kumaraswamy, who is the JD(S) chief and the son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda is pitted in a battle of prestige against Venkataramegowda (Star Chandru) from the Congress for the seat, which is considered a Vokkaliga heartland. In the 2019 elections, Sumalatha Ambareesh, who contested as an independent candidate emerged victorious from Mandya, securing 7,03,660 votes. Nikhil Kumaraswamy from JD(S) got 5,77,784 votes. Ambareesh, who remained an independent MP, recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party said that she refrained from contesting the Lok Sabha elections this time as she wanted to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wished for the Bharatiya Janata Party's return to power. The actor-turned-politician termed it a "great day for her political career" after joining the BJP. Meanwhile, 64-year-old HD Kumaraswamy said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) aims to solve the crisis regarding water in the state. "The purpose of the JDS-BJP alliance is to solve the irrigation problems of the state. It is to solve the water problem of our state by ensuring that there is no injustice to the neighbouring states," he said. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress and JD-S fought together against the BJP and the combine was decimated. The BJP had won a record 25 seats; Congress and JD-S won just one seat each. With seven sitting MLAs and three MLCs the Congress is confident of win of its candidate Star Chandru, who has the backing of KPCC president and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar. Star Chandu is the brother of KH Puttaswamy Gowda, an independent MLA of Gauribidanur Polling in Karnataka for the 28 seats in the 18th Lok Sabha will be held on April 26 and May 7 in the second and third phases, respectively. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. (ANI)
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