Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy will count himself very lucky. In the wee hours of Thursday, he got the scare of his life as his car caught fire. But fortunately, his security staff noticed it in the nick of time and directed him to alight from the car, thereby averting a massive tragedy.

The fire accident took place when the chief minister was travelling to a village near Srirangapattana in his Range Rover. After this incident, Kumaraswamy got into another car and continued his journey towards Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam.

But what is the cause for the fire?

Well, there are two theories. One, it is being speculated that the bursting of crackers, taken up by the locals, as a way of welcoming the chief minister, might have ignited the fire. The second theory is that there was a technical glitch in the car itself, leading to the fire.

The investigations are on.

Meanwhile, the chief minister has busied himself in campaigning for his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy who is contesting the Lok Sabha poll from Mandya on a JD(S) ticket. Sumalatha Ambareesh, the wife of late actor- politician Ambareesh is the rival candidate, backed by the BJP.

Sumalatha got a shot in the arm when none other than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself took her name and asked the electorate to vote in her favour. He even recalled the contributions of Ambareesh for the cause of the Kannada language.

Though Sumalatha herself and her supporters could not thank Modi enough for his open endorsement of her candidacy, there is a section of the society that questioned the prime minister for not issuing condolences for the leader on the floor of the Parliament.

Mandya will vote on April 18. With such developments, the elections indeed draw more curiosity.