BJP wooing Sumalatha hard to join party fold; has task cut out for her

BENGALURU: In what seems to be a last bid, the BJP is making all efforts to woo Independent MP Sumalatha Ambarish into the party fold. The MP is already an associate member of the party in the Lok Sabha and occupies the treasury benches.

The party is waiting for her to make up her mind so that it can entrust her with the task of ensuring the party’s victory in Mandya and Maddur Assembly seats, which are part of her Mandya Lok Sabha constituency. Right from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, several BJP leaders have already extended her an invitation to join the party, but she had not communicated her decision.

Previously, the CM himself had invited Sumalatha on a couple of occasions, followed by Revenue Minister R Ashoka and Ramanagara MLA C P Yogeshwar. Only on Thursday, Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan has extended a fresh invitation to Sumalatha.

The Mandya MP has openly expressed her dissatisfaction about KPCC president D K Shivakumar’s ways and has also taken the H D Kumaraswamy family by defeating his son in the last Lok Sabha election. Also, she has been going soft on the BJP and many in the party feel that she may be left with little options but to join the saffron party.

Many of her late husband Ambarish’s supporters have already joined the BJP and the party is keen that she too officially joins the fold.