Summary:
Devegowda, wearing a ‘lungi’, suddenly lost balance and fell, sustaining minor injuries to the face and legs Lakshmi, the perceived frontrunner for the Mandya seat, had declared herself as the candidate soon after Puttaraju resigned following his win in the assembly election from Melukote, claiming that Gowda had promised her the seat.Sources said the party expects Shivaramegowda and Anitha to file their papers on Monday. In the event, a compromise candidate party MLC V S Ugrappa could be the dark horse.KPCC working president Eshwara Khandre said the party would finalise a candidate by Sunday evening but that did not happen.MARATHON MISSTEP: Higher education minister G T Devegowda falls while running the Dasara Half Marathon in Mysuru on Sunday. Madhu is likely to file his nomination on Monday or Tuesday, they said.Swaraj India, meanwhile, is considering the possibility of fielding Sunita, wife of late farmer leader K S Puttannaiah, from Mandya.This could result in the JD(S) facing a stiff fight as Puttannaiah’s party enjoys considerable support in the district. BENGALURU/MANGALURU: The JD(S) on Sunday evening finalised its candidates for the Mandya and Shivamogga Lok Sabha seats and the Ramanagara assembly segment even as coalition partner Congress struggled to select a candidate for Ballari with just two days left for the filing of nominations.JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda announced in Bengaluru on Sunday that former MLA L R Shivaramegowda will be the JD(S) candidate from the Mandya LS constituency and Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the party’s contender in Ramanagara.Kumaraswamy in Mangaluru told reporters that the party would field Madhu Bangarappa, son of former chief minister S Bangarappa, from the Shivamogga parliamentary seat.The party came to a decision on the Mandya and Ramanagara candidates after a marathon meeting between Gowda, Kumaraswamy, minister C S Puttaraju and MLAs of Mandya district.The decision has left former bureaucrat Lakshmi Ashwin Gowda fuming..