MP Sumalatha Ambareesh meets J P Nadda; speculations rife about pitch for Mandya seat
Bengaluru, Feb 8: Independent Lok Sabha MP and actor Sumalatha Ambareesh on Thursday met BJP national president J P Nadda and party general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh giving rise to speculations about her pitching for a BJP ticket.
The Mandya MP, who defeated JD(S) scion Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, called on the two BJP leaders in New Delhi, and later posted photographs with them on the social media website X'.
"Today I met BJP National President J P Nadda and BJP National General Secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh informally and discussed about Mandya constituency and Lok Sabha elections. I thank Nadda Ji and Santhosh Ji for giving their precious time and listening to me. Thanks again for your kind words," Sumalatha said in her post.
Sumalatha has been cozying up to the BJP and is aspiring for a ticket from the party, sources close to her said, adding that she has kept her options open in case she is rebuffed.
In a recent interview to a news channel, she had said that some senior Congress leaders were also in touch with her.
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Mandya constituency has become a contentious issue for the BJP, its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) and Sumalatha for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, which is about two months away.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Sumalatha disturbed the political equations of the JD(S) and Congress in Mandya after she announced that she would contest the election.
Mandya was traditionally considered as a JD(S) bastion as it is dominated by the Vokkaliga community, which the JD(S) first family of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda belong to.
In the 2019 polls, the JD(S) tried to use the Mandya seat as a political launch pad for Gowda's grandson and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil. However, Sumalatha poured cold water over their plans by defeating him.
The latest speculations of Sumalatha seeking a BJP ticket to contest from Mandya is likely to be a vexatious issue in the 2024 polls for JD(S), which is now an ally of the BJP.
JD(S), which had won all the seven seats in 2018 assembly elections from Mandya district, suffered another serious setback in 2023 when it lost six seats to Congress and its ally.
Despite this, the party is not keen on giving up its stronghold.
With its tally in the state assembly reducing from 37 seats in 2018 to a mere 19 in 2023, the JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year after a meeting between H D Kumaraswamy, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda in New Delhi.
Both parties have said they would fight the coming Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka together.
ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಜೆ.ಪಿ ನಡ್ಡಾ ಅವರನ್ನು ಹಾಗೂ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಸಂಘಟನಾ ಪ್ರಧಾನ ಕಾರ್ಯದರ್ಶಿಗಳಾದ ಶ್ರೀ ಬಿ.ಎಲ್. ಸಂತೋಷ್ ಅವರನ್ನು ಅನೌಪಚಾರಿಕವಾಗಿ ಇಂದು ಭೇಟಿ ಭೇಟಿ ಮಾಡಿ ಮಂಡ್ಯ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಹಾಗೂ ಲೋಕಸಭಾ ಚುನಾವಣೆ ಕುರಿತಂತೆ ಚರ್ಚಿಸಲಾಯಿತು.
— Sumalatha Ambareesh 🇮🇳 ಸುಮಲತಾ ಅಂಬರೀಶ್ (@sumalathaA) February 8, 2024
ತಮ್ಮ ಅಮೂಲ್ಯ ಸಮಯವನ್ನು ನೀಡಿ, ನನ್ನ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನು ಆಲಿಸಿದ… pic.twitter.com/T4qP7cdyNd
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UP Police use tear gas to disperse crowd throwing stones during Sambhal mosque survey
Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals here on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Tension has been seething in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
According to the local administration, a second survey by an "Advocate Commissioner" as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site began around 7 am and a crowd began gathering at the spot.
"Some miscreants came out of the crowd gathered near the site and pelted stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control," Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.
He said those who engaged in stone pelting and those who incited them will be identified and action taken against them.
District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said, "Some miscreants resorted to stone pelting but the situation is peaceful now and the survey is underway."
Videos of youths throwing stones at police, purportedly near the site of the survey in Sambhal have surfaced on the Internet.
Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner in the case, had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "Advocate Commission" to survey the mosque.
The court has said that a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the mosque committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition concerning the mosque, Jain said last Tuesday.
Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.
Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, told PTI on Friday that in his petition filed in the court, he mentioned that "Baburnama" and the "Ain-e-Akbari" has confirmed that a Harihar temple was at the site where the Jama Masjid now stands.
He also claimed that the temple was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.
"The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places," he had said.
The next date for hearing in this case is January 29.
VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh: Stones and slippers pelted in Sambhal when a survey team reached Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a survey of the mosque.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 24, 2024
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#SambhalJamaMasjid pic.twitter.com/K4QGGpzlMK
