Sumalatha to take on HDK’s son Nikhil in Mandya as an independent candidate

coastaldigest.com news network
March 18, 2019

Mandya, Mar 18: Former actress Sumalatha, widow of late Ambareesh today announced that she would contest the elections from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency as an Independent candidate.

She will be taking on Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil, who is the JD(S) candidate.

Flanked by actors Darshan, Yash and her son Abhishek, Sumalatha told the media in Bengaluru that she was "compelled" to enter politics because of the love showered on her by the people of Mandya.

She said that the entire Kannada film industry was standing by her and supporting her candidature. She will be filing her nomination in Mandya on April 20.

After the demise of her husband, actor-politician, M H Ambareesh, Sumalatha evinced her interest to contest from Mandya.

She said that she was doing so to carry forward Ambareesh's legacy. She also said that though she was asked to contest from constituencies like Bangalore North and Bangalore South (by the Congress and BJP), she had refused to do so.

"I even denied the MLC post that was offered to me. I am entering politics for personal gain. I am doing this for the people of Mandya. I have heeded the people's request. It is Mandya or nothing for me. I am going to fight for Mandya. I am not scared of losing," she added.

Sumalatha, who had sought the Congress ticket, said that she had done so as her husband was with the party.

The Congress, however, owing to its coalition compulsions, denied her the ticket, stating that the JD(S) held the constituency.

Congress leaders including Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah had declined to field her.

Despite this, Sumalatha said she was hopeful of a ticket, and had maintained that she would wait for a final announcement from the Congress high command. While she waited, she went campaigning around the Mandya district.

Sumalatha had remained resolute as she was strongly backed by the local Congress leaders, who were upset with the state leaders for ceding Mandya to the JD(S).

During the press conference, she reiterated that the local Congress leaders were facing identity and existential crisis in Mandya and that there was need to revive the party in the district.

Irked by the growing popularity of Sumalatha and the "politics" behind her candidature, the JD(S), got bullish by launching a tirade against both her and Ambareesh.

While Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy took digs at Ambareesh, his brother H D Revanna made disparaging and sexist remarks against Sumalatha. JD(S) Minister D C Thammanna was among those who attacked her.

When it became apparent that the Congress was in no position to field her, Sumalatha last week intensified her parleys with the BJP, which wanted to cash in on the situation.

Last week she even went and met former union minister S M Krishna and sought his support.

A section of BJP leaders were keen on fielding Sumalatha. The party high command, however, decided not to give her the ticket. It is, however, likely to extend her external support.

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News Network
April 24,2020

Kasaragod, Apr 24:  Stricter measures have been enforced in more places in this district, as part of intensifying efforts aimed at containing the spread of Covid19.

According to District Collector Dr Sajith Babu, the new norms of intensified lockdown would be enforced in Kumbala, Mogral-Puthur, Chemmanad, Madhur, Muliyar and Kumbala grama panchayats, being identified as new hotspots in the district.

Earlier, door-to-door police patrolling at regular intervals have been implemented in Thalankeri, Choori, Kalanad and Nellikkunnu, where more positive cases of Covid-19 has been reported.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 7,2020

Mangaluru/Udupi, Jul 7: Coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi crossed 100 plus Covid19 positive cases mark again on Tuesday, after slipping to double digit cases for a day on Monday. While Dakshina Kannada accounted for 83 of these cases and one death, Udupi tallied 28 fresh cases taking the combined tally of new cases to 111.

DK stood second behind Bengaluru Urban that recorded 800 out of 1,498 new cases that the state recorded for the day.

In all, 48 primary contacts testing positive led DK district’s spurt of 83 cases, Sindhu B Rupesh, deputy commissioner, said. Influenza like illness (ILI) cases accounted for 20 of the 83 cases, one each were diagnosed with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) and from pre-surgery sample collected before delivery, two had history of inter-district travel, three each were cases of random, pre-surgery samples and source of infection being traced.

A 65-year-old male from Moodbidri who had co-morbid conditions including diabetes, pneumonia and heart ailment succumbed to the pandemic during the day. He was admitted for treatment at a private hospital on July 3. With this, the death toll due to coronavirus in DK district rose to 26 and two of them are due to non-Covid reasons including a case each of suicide and a person succumbing to liver cirrhosis and they tested positive post death.

G Jagadeesha, deputy commissioner, Udupi district said the 28 new cases took the total positive cases in Udupi to 1390. With 1182 patients discharged and three deaths, Udupi as on date has 205 active cases. Those who tested positive include KSRTC driver who travelled to Bengaluru, vegetable vendor at Adi Udupi market and people with travel history to Tumakuru, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Dubai and two even from DK and rest primary contacts, DC said.

Health authorities in DK district also discharged 99 patients during the day to keep their active cases tally at 650. The two districts combined have 855 active cases as on date. As per revised protocol issued by the department of health and family welfare, the district administration also permitted 28 patients with mild symptoms to undergo home isolation while the rest are being treated either at private hospitals or at the designated Covid19 hospital for DK.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 11,2020

Mangaluru, May 11: The first evocation flight from Dubai to Mangaluru amidst corona crisis is expected to bring back 177 stranded Kannadigas, mainly residents of coastal Karnataka, on Tuesday, May 12.

All the international passengers have to undergo three mandatory upon their arrival at Mangaluru International Airport - the thermal test, pulse oximetry reading and swab test.

They will be categorised based on their health condition and sent to institutional quarantine, said Sindhu B Rupesh, deputy commissioner, Dakshina Kannada.

“Those with some health issues on arrival (Category A) will be ferried through ambulances to quarantine facilities and rest in buses,” she said.

Arriving passengers will be given the option to choose their quarantine home (lodge, hostel and service apartment) based on their budget and preference.

It is learnt that Dakshina Kannada district administration has kept ready close to 1,000 rooms. The tariff for quarantine facilities is between Rs 1,200 and Rs 4,500 (including food) per day.

As per the Karnataka government, as on May 6, about 10,823 stranded expatriates are expected to return home.

The CISF, airport authorities, health and police departments will make arrangements for the arriving repatriates at MIA.

Sindhu said that the district administration has no personal information about the arriving passengers and there is high probability that they may belong to other districts or the neighbouring Kerala.

“So far, the district administration has received the missive that 177 passengers will be landing on May 12. If we are given advance details about the expats from other districts/state, the district administration will alert them to make necessary arrangements,” she said.

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