A tearful mother seeks votes for her son in Belur

Anupama Mahesh, mother of Congress candidate Shreyas Patel, made an emotional appeal to voters at Belur on Friday. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar attended the rally. | Photo Credit: PRAKASH HASSAN

The Congress election campaign meeting in Belur on Friday saw some emotional moments as the mother of candidate Shreyas Patel, Anupama Mahesh, literally begged for votes for her son, with tears in her eyes.

Both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar campaigned for the candidate contesting from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency and the latter referred to the electoral defeat Mr. Patel had suffered in the past. Ms. Anupama Mahesh, at that point, stepped forward and stood next to Mr. Shivakumar, with tears in her eyes, making an emotional appeal for votes.

Ms. Anupama Mahesh had contested twice from the Holenarasipur Assembly constituency and lost. Her son had contested from the same seat in 2023 and lost to senior JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna by a thin margin.

Mr. Patel, grandson of the former Congress Minister the late G. Puttaswamy Gowda, is contesting against Prajwal Revanna, grandson of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.