Mandya MP Sumalatha confident of getting BJP ticket in LS election
Mandya, Feb 26: Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh on Monday said she was confident of getting a BJP ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election from here even as there are strong indications that the party's alliance partner JD(S) is firm on fielding its candidate in the segment.
Sumalatha contested the 2019 general elections as an independent and she was backed by the BJP. She had defeated former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda’s grandson and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy.
She said her confidence stems from the fact that the party demonstrated that it gave preference to women by passing the women’s reservation bill.
There is no doubt about getting a BJP ticket and my fight is to see that the BJP retains the Mandya seat. I am quite confident that I will get a BJP ticket from Mandya,” she told reporters here.
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Sumalatha's comments assume significance as there are some reports that the BJP may leave the Mandya seat to its alliance partner JD(S).
Sumalatha said, “You see, they (BJP) had supported me in the previous election. I too supported them (BJP) whenever they raised issues in the Parliament and brought important bills. Also I extended them my support from outside in the 2023 assembly elections.”
When reminded of BJP’s alliance with the JD(S) this time, she said, “Are they my enemy if they (BJP) become friendly with the JD(S)? It’s not like that. I am also part of the BJP-led NDA just as JD(S) is, since I too supported them(BJP)."
The JD(S), which joined the BJP led NDA in September last year to fight the Lok Sabha election together, is also keen on the Mandya seat, which has been its stronghold, party sources said.
On Sunday, JD(S) second-in-command Kumaraswamy had a meeting with the party leaders regarding Lok Sabha election in Mandya.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said “We had a long discussion on Mandya. They all expressed their thoughts on winning this seat. We have taken note of their thoughts.”
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
