Will decide future course of action after discussing with supporters: Sumalatha
Bengaluru, Mar 28: Incumbent Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh, who was denied a ticket by the BJP, on Friday said she would reveal her future course of action in the coming days after discussing with her supporters.
The multi-lingual film actress-turned-politician reiterated that BJP should have reserved the seat for itself instead of giving it to its ally Janata Dal (Secular) in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to reporters after an hour-long discussion with the BJP state president and Shikaripura MLA B Y Vijayendra, Sumalatha said, "Vijayendra expressed his opinion and expectations. I too told him about my concerns for the district and election. He asked me to join the party as he wanted me to remain with the BJP."
"Tomorrow I my supporters are coming. I told him that I will not take any decision unilaterally without consulting my supporters. It is my duty to listen to their expectations and opinion. I told him that I will make my stand clear in Mandya itself," Sumalatha said.
The Mandya MP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate with the BJP's support defeating former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda's grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy.
She was expecting a BJP ticket to seek re-election from Mandya. However, the BJP forged an alliance with JD(S) last year in September and as per the seat-sharing deal, decided to give Mandya, Kolar and Hassan to its ally.
Now, JD(S) has decided to field former Chief Minister and Deve Gowda's son H D Kumaraswamy from Mandya.
Sumalatha said she wanted BJP to retain Mandya with itself so that it could have given a tough fight in the election and made its presence felt to the people of the region.
"Now there is no point to discuss things which have already happened. I will surely reveal my future course of action in the coming days," the MP said.
Regarding Kumaraswamy's wish to meet her, Sumalatha said she had no objection to meeting him.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Sumalatha, Vijayendra said she had responded to his request. However, she told him that she will reveal her future course of action after discussing with her supporters.
"I am of the firm belief that she will remain with us and strengthen our party. She may feel that this could be her defeat but I told her that everything will set right," the BJP state chief said.
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A strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake shakes Indonesia's Java Island, felt in Jakarta
Jakarta, Apr 27: A strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook the southern part of Indonesia's main island of Java on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or significant property damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck 102 kilometers (63 miles) south of Banjar city at a depth of 68.3 kilometers (42.4 miles). There was no tsunami warning.
High-rises in the capital Jakarta swayed for around a minute and two-story homes shook strongly in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung and in Jakarta's satellite cities of Depok, Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi. The quake was also felt in other cities in West Java, Yogyakarta and East Java province, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency.
The agency warned of possible aftershocks.
Earthquakes are frequent across the sprawling archipelago nation, but they are rarely felt in Jakarta.
Indonesia, a seismically active archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on major geological faults known as the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake in 2022 killed at least 602 people in West Java's Cianjur city. It was the deadliest in Indonesia since a 2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed more than 4,300 people.
In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.
