Congress workers in Mandya may quit party to campaign for Sumalatha in upcoming Lok Sabha elections

MANDYA: Caught between the compulsions of an alliance and the survival of their political careers, Congress workers in Mandya are considering a new strategy. While Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar is investing time and effort in ensuring that the party leaders support JD(S)’  candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, local leaders and workers are adamant on extending their support to Sumalatha Ambareesh who is likely to contest as an independent. ​

A stern warning from Congress of severe action including suspension has refused to deter many party workers. Now, they intend to resign from the party and campaign for Sumalatha as volunteers. Post the election, they will rejoin the party. The ‘resign and rejoin’ strategy, the workers hope, will  make the party’s decision to suspend them ineffective. The rivalry between JD(S) and Congress workers in Mandya is no secret and this time around Congress workers have an excuse in Sumalatha to not support the coalition partner.  

“We are in the process of deciding upon mass resignations. As Congress party workers, campaigning for Sumalatha will be deemed anti-party activity. But if we resign the party will have no say in what we do,” said a block Congress worker in Mandya town who did not wish to be named. Some grassroots level workers have already started coordinating and volunteering for Sumalatha’s campaign at booth levels across all eight assembly segments of Mandya Lok Sabha constituency. 

For the local workers, Sumalatha’s candidature alone is a matter of survival for the Congress. Her win would bolster the Congress at the grassroots level. Local leaders are desperately trying to stop mass transfer of Congress votes to the JD(S) with their strategy. Local workers do not want a repetition of the recently concluded bypolls where close to one lakh Congress votes were transferred to the BJP.