BENGALURU: Former chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Monday courted controversy when he exhorted independent MP from Mandya, Sumalatha Ambareesh, to “sleep in front of the sluice gates of Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir in the district to prevent seepage”.
Kumaraswamy’s comments came soon after he led a delegation of MLAs to chief minister BS Yediyurappa to impress upon him that the state-owned “MySugar” (Mysore Sugar) factory in Mandya should not be leased out to private industrial units. There were reports that it may be leased for 40 years to a sugar factory baron in Yediyurappa’s cabinet.
“If the gates are leaking, make her (Sumalatha) sleep in front of the sluice gates to prevent seepage,” the former CM told reporters in response to her concern over leakage at the KRS reservoir owing to mining activities in its vicinity.
“Mandya never had an MP like her, nor will it get one like her in future. She has been elected on sympathy. Let her work properly as she will not get another opportunity,” Kumaraswamy added.
It may be recalled that Sumalatha had defeated Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Kumaraswamy, by nearly 1.3 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. During the election campaign, several JD(S) MLAs, including Kumaraswamy himself, had indulged in personal attacks against Sumalatha, the wife of late actor-turned-politician MH Ambareesh.
Hitting back at Kumaraswamy, Sumalatha said this shows his culture and personality. “Leave aside that I’m an MP... Making personal attacks against a woman, what kind of culture is this? You were a former CM; don’t you have control over your language? Don’t you have basic knowledge about how to speak in public?” she retorted.
Sumalatha said she had raised the issue during a discussion on the Dam Safety Bill in parliament over threat to KRS dam due to illegal mining activities in its vicinity. “It is an open secret in Mandya on who is involved in illegal mining,” the MP said said, adding: “I am not opposed to mining, but opposed to illegal mining.” On Mysore Sugar factory, Kumarswamy earlier said the factory built during the times of maharajas of Mysuru and Sir M Visvesvaraya has a history and it is everyone’s wish that it be under government control. “The chief minister has assured me that he will not allow the factory to go into private hands,” Kumaraswamy said.
Later in the day, Sumalatha met the CM and requested him to reopen the factory and bear the additional transport cost incurred by sugarcane farmers. Rejecting Kumarswamy’s charges that she was pushing for handing over of the factory to private industries, the first-time MP later said: “I had only requested the CM to reopen the factory; I don’t mind under what model.”
Sources said this renewed rivalry between Kumaraswamy and Sumalatha is a direct fallout of the closure of illegal mines in the vicinity of KRS dam. After Sumalatha personally took mines minister Murugesh Nirani to Baby Betta in Mandya to apprise him of illegal mining activity, the government conducted a detailed inquiry and levied a fine of Rs 100 crore on a company allegedly run by a senior JD(S) functionary.
In Tumakuru, Nirani reaffirmed the actions taken by the mines department around KRS dam and said all mining activities have been shut down within a 10-km radius of the dam and Baby Betta.
He said there is no leakage of any sort at KRS dam.
