Incumbent Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh, who won as an independent in 2019 elections, announced her decision to join the BJP and not contest the 2024 elections.
This has brought an end to the suspense over her next move which kept both the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) on tenterhooks as the two have entered into a pre-poll alliance with the BJP supporting the JD(S) candidate H.D. Kumaraswamy who is contesting from Mandya.
With Sumalatha withdrawing from the race and set to join the BJP, Mandya is ready to witness a direct contest between the Congress and the JD(S). In the 2019 elections, the BJP did not field a candidate from Mandya and indirectly supported Sumalatha while she reciprocated by supporting the BJP in the 2023 Assembly elections.