Bengaluru, Mar 23: Independent candidate and multilingual actress Sumalatha received a big boost Saturday with the BJP deciding to support her in Mandya to take on Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil in the Lok Sabha polls.
Sumalatha, widow of actor-turned-politician M H Ambareesh, decided to contest as an independent after being denied a ticket by the Congress, which is now facing trouble in the district over conceding the seat to it's ruling coalition partner JD(S).
BJP's Central Election Committee Secretary Jagat Prakash Nadda announced the party's decision to support Sumalatha, as he read out the list of candidates for various Lok Sabha seats across the country in Delhi.
With Congress ruling out fielding Sumalatha for Mandya, saying it would go to JD(S), clamour had grown within BJP to induct her and field her as the candidate, as a section believed it would help the saffron party, which doesn't have much presence in the Vokkaliga bastion.
However, BJP's state leadership was one in supporting her as an independent so she could continue to bank on the support of disgruntled Congress leaders in Mandya, who are upset about their party's decision to cede the seat to JD(S).
Congress and JD(S) have been arch rivals in old Mysuru region, especially Mandya.
Both parties forged an alliance to form the government after the 2018 assembly poll results and are fighting the Lok Sabha polls together, according to the coalition arrangement.
Sumalatha's late husband Ambareesh had contested and won from Mandya in the past and enjoys popularity among the masses there.
She had filed her nomination as an independent on Wednesday and enjoys the support of many within the Kannada film industry, with film stars Darshan and Yash among others by her side during campaigning.
Sumalatha had also sought the support of senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, a prominent Vokkaliga leader from Mandya.
Despite losing Mandya Lok Sabha seat in the bypolls in November 2018, BJP had made significant inroads, with party candidate Siddaramaiah, a political greenhorn and former civil servant securing 2,44,404 votes, its best performance there.
BJP on Saturday also announced that Muniswamy S, a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike corporator from Kadugodi, would be its candidate for the Kolar Lok Sabha seat.
With the announcement for two seats on Saturday, BJP has so far announced candidates for 23 (including Mandya) out of total of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The first list of 21 candidates was announced on Thursday.
The five seats for which the party is yet to announce its candidates are Koppal, Raichur, Bangalore South, Bangalore Rural and Chikkodi.
Congress and JD(S) that have decided to fight the polls in alliance will contest for 20 and eight seats respectively and are yet to formally announce their list of candidates.
Karnataka will go to the polls in two phases, 14 constituencies each, on April 18 and 23.
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Jaipur, Mar 28: Young Riyan Parag showed why he is considered a precocious talent as he struck a stunning 84 not out off 45 balls to set up a 12-run win for Rajasthan Royals against Delhi Capitals in their IPL match here on Thursday.
Sent in to bat, RR were reduced to 36 for 3 in the eighth over but the 22-year-old Parag single-handedly took the home side to 185 for 5 with a magnificent unbeaten knock studded with seven fours and six sixes.
Parag, who was promoted to number 4 by the team management this season and made 43 in the previous match, took 25 runs off veteran South African pacer Anrich Nortje with scores of 4, 4, 6, 4, 6, 1 in the final over to hit his highest T20 score.
Chasing 186 for a win, DC could only manage 173 for 5 in 20 overs though South African youngster Tristan Stubbs (44 not out off 23 balls) kept them in the hunt till the final over from which they needed 17 runs.
Avesh Khan conceded just four runs to help RR win their second consecutive match.
South African pacer Nandre Burger and Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets apiece to also contribute in the RR win.
"Definitely disappointed. The best thing to do from here is to learn from it. The bowlers did well through the 15-16 overs. But the batters did well at the death, hopefully we do better in the next game," DC skipper Rishabh Pant said.
DC were reduced to 34 for 2 in the fourth over with Burger taking two wickets in three balls in a fine display of fast bowling.
Burger, who was brought in as Impact Sub for Shimron Hetmyer, dismissed opener Mitchell Marsh (23 off 12 balls) and Ricky Bhui (0) in the fourth over.
DC captain Rishabh Pant came out to bat at the fall of Bhui's wicket and along with senior batter David Warner built the innings without taking too much risk. Delhi were 89 for 2 at the halfway stage.
Warner was the more aggressive one as he got the boundaries to keep DC in the hunt. The senior Australian batter fell one run short of his fifty courtesy a brilliant diving catch by Sandeep Sharma off the bowling of Avesh in the 12th over.
Warner and Pant were involved in a crucial 67-run partnership for the third wicket.
Playing in his 100th IPL match and 14 months after a horrible car crash, Pant tried to build the innings with occasional boundaries. But he got out for a 26-ball 28 as Chahal induced a faint lower edge for Sanju Samson to do the rest behind the stumps in the 14th over.
The asking rate shot up to more than 13 runs an over and DC needed 66 from the last five overs.
Stubbs kept DC in the game with two consecutive sixes off Ravichandran Ashwin in the 17th over, but in the end the Delhi side were short by 12 runs.
They needed 34 runs from the final two overs which they could not get. It was DC's second consecutive loss.
Earlier, Parag shared 54 and 52 runs respectively with Ravichandran Ashwin (29) and Dhruv Jurel (20) after RR made a shaky start.
Royals captain Samson struck three consecutive boundaries in the fourth over bowled by pacer Mukesh Kumar before nicking a Khaleel Ahmed delivery two overs later to Pant to get out for 15.
RR were 30 for 2 by then as Mukesh had given DC their first breakthrough with the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal (5).
The Royals were in more trouble after wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav literally forced his captain Pant to take a review, which later proved to be successful, to dismiss Englishman Jos Buttler for an LBW decision.
Ashwin came out to bat at number five and he lofted a Kuldeep delivery for a six to help RR reach 58 for 3 at halfway stage. He gave Nortje even a harsher treatment with two sixes in the next over that yielded 15 runs.
Ashwin, however, holed out to Tristan Stubbs near the boundary ropes for a 19-ball 29.
Parag then made his presence felt, striking two boundaries and a six off Ahmed to take RR past 100 in the 15th over.