Former screen diva Sumalatha seems to be taking after her husband Ambareesh, the matinee idol who carried the moniker of “rebel star” even after he joined politics and became a member of parliament from his home turf of Mandya in south Karnataka. Sumalatha is likely to claim the political legacy of her deceased husband even at the cost of running against the ruling coalition of the Janata Dal (S) and the Congress, the parties to which Ambareesh belonged during his political career.
Irked by the Congress's refusal to claim the seat from the ruling partner, Sumalatha has decided to contest as an independent candidate against the Janata Dal (S) candidate in the coming general election. Such a fight would create some fireworks as the Janata Dal (S) has proposed to field chief minister H D Kumaraswami's son Nikhil Gowda, an upcoming movie star himself.
Interestingly, Sumalatha has turned down the BJP's offer to support her. The BJP is nowhere in the picture in the constituency traditionally dominated by the Congress and the Janata Dal (S).
Sumalatha, aged 55, hopes to ride the goodwill of Ambareesh fans and Congress workers disgruntled by the alliance with the Janata Dal (S). She has already started her campaign. She is a familiar face in the constituency, which was represented in the Lok Sabha by her husband three times, first as a Janata Dal (S) candidate and then with the Congress. He has served as a Union minister and a state minister.
Sumalatha has no political experience other than making appearances along with her husband during election rallies but she pins her hopes on the fans who wanted her to carry on the legacy.
The Chennai-born actor has worked in a slew of movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. Nikhil Gowda is a lesser-known actor who has appeared in three Kannada movies.