Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh joined the BJP on April 5 in the presence of former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, in Bengaluru. Her close aide, film producer and distributor ‘Rockline’ Venkatesh, too joined the BJP.
The actor-turned-politician won the Mandya seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, with support from the BJP. This time, the seat has gone to the JD(S) and the candidate is former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
Claiming that she was not joining the BJP for securing her own political future, Ms. Sumalatha said, “The future of my district, my State and my country are more important to me than my own political future.” Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘a leader who walks the talk’, she said, “The Prime Minister’s leadership and his dream for India’s development are my inspiration.”