EC functioning under guidance of PM, BJP: Chandrababu Naidu

Mandya: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on Monday, April 15 campaigned in Mandya, where Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil is the joint candidate of the ruling JD(S)-Congress alliance.

Noting that this was a very important election for the nation and not just for Mandya or Karnataka alone, he said, “I’m appealing to all of you in Karnataka …you have to vote for the JD(S)-Congress candidates.

Naidu alleged that the current Prime Minister was the least accountable one in the last 70 years.

“He never addressed one press conference…Democracy is in danger,” he said, as he alleged that the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department, Reserve Bank of India, and the Election commission of India were being misused by Modi and BJP President Amit Shah.

“Has Narendra Modi done anything for Karnataka in the last five years? We are paying taxes, nothing has been done for our states…even for Andhra Pradesh and other South Indian states and several parts of the country,” he said as he hit out at Modi on various issues, including the Rafael deal.

Praising former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Naidu asked people of Mandya to vote for Nikhil and defeat BJP in the state.

Interestingly, multi-lingual actress and widow of actor turned politician M H Ambareesh- Sumalatha, who is from Andra Pradesh and reportedly belongs to the Naidu community, is contesting as independent against Nikhil, for whom Naidu campaigned on Monday in the Vokkaliga bastion.

With an intention to avoid large-scale damage to JD(S) with splitting of Vokkaliga votes as both Nikhil and Sumalatha hail from the community, a campaign is on in Mandya to project her as an outsider, with several party leaders questioning her identity and stating that she is not a “Gowdthi” (not Vokkaliga), pointing at her Telugu background.