In Mandya, more theatrics than politics

The battle in Mandya is turning out to be an interesting one. In fact, it has all the theatrics required with rebel star Ambareesh keeping all guessing. At first, he had indicated that he would not be contesting the elections owing to health reasons. Now he says that he would take a call on whether to contest or not after the party high command clears his name for the Mandya City Assembly seat.

The star has decided to adopt the wait and watch the game until the final list of candidates is released by the party. For Ambareesh there is a problem from within his party. The Mandya unit is divided on whether he should be given a ticket or not. Some say that he is disinterested and hence should be overlooked. However, the Congress cannot take him lightly as he is capable of playing spoilsport for any candidate that contests from the seat. Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah had recently indicated that he would meet with Ambareesh and sort out the differences. However, that meeting has not taken place as yet. Also, some reports suggest that Ramya who is in charge of the Congress IT cell is in contention for the seat. The Congress would, however, tread carefully on this issue as it could upset Ambareesh. He still has a sway over the voter and could influence them to vote against her.

This has been relatively a safe seat for the Congress and the party would not want to mess it up and give close contender the JD(S) a chance. Sources say that Ambareesh is unlikely to contest even if he were to be given a ticket. He would however want to retain control over the constituency and would prefer to have his loyalist out there. The Congress, on the other hand, has been getting complaints about his lack of interest. He hardly visits the constituency and even one made recently was token in nature. Further, there are surveys that suggest that he may not win the seat. The theatrics are plenty in this constituency. The Congress has trodden carefully with him and had even asked him if he wanted to contest the elections. Further, he was also given a deadline of April 8 to respond, he never did that. Ambareesh continues to maintain that he would respond only after he sees his name in the final list of candidates.