Sumalatha Ambareesh, actor-turned-politician and independent MP from Karnataka’s Mandya, joined the BJP on Friday.
The 60-year-old was welcomed into the party fold at its state headquarters in Bengaluru by veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, state President B Y Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly R Ashoka, national General Secretary in-charge of elections in Karnataka Radha Mohan Das Agarwal and former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sumalatha, as an independent candidate supported by the BJP, emerged victorious by defeating the JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of then Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, by a significant margin.
Sumalatha, wife of the late film star M H Ambareesh, announced on Wednesday her decision to withdraw from the upcoming Lok Sabha polls after the BJP conceded the Mandya seat to its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular), opting instead to join the BJP.
Having previously sought the BJP ticket for re-election from the Mandya seat, which was previously represented by her late husband, Sumalatha ultimately acquiesced to the party’s decision to allocate the seat to JD(S).
JD(S) state President and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is now the joint candidate from Mandya, having sought Sumalatha’s cooperation in the polls during a meeting on Sunday.
Entering politics in 2019 after being denied a ticket by the Congress, Sumalatha secured victory in the polls riding on a wave of sympathy following her husband’s passing. Ambareesh, a prominent figure in Mandya district, had served as MP, MLA, and Minister in Karnataka and at the Centre.