Update:2.30pm
We will build brand Bengaluru, CM assures after BBMP win
Bengaluru: Soon after Congress-JD(S) alliance grabbed power in BBMP, CM Siddaramaiah congratulated the newly elected BBMP mayor BN Manjunath Reddy.
“Congress-JD(S) will complete five year term in BBMP and we are committed to the development of Bengaluru. We will build a brand Bengaluru. We will hold talks with Digvijay Singh after he returns from US,” said CM.
BJP members absent, angry Ashoka walks out of council
BJP leader R Ashok, who took charge of the BBMP elections, got upset as few BJP corporators were absent and walked out of the council, sources said.
Few BJP members were absent during voting as well.
Bengaluru: Celebrations are in order in the city of Bengaluru as the Congress-JDS Alliance grabbed power in the BBMP council. Both the parties celebrated with great fervor as Congress corporator BN Manjunath Reddy from Madivala Ward won the elections becoming the Mayor of Bengaluru and Hemalatha Gopalaiah (JD-S) was elected the Deputy Mayor.
Manjunath Reddy from congress won the elections with 131 votes, while BJP’s candidate Manjunath Raju lost the race by receiving 128 votes.
Update: 12.20pm
Bengaluru: Regional commissioner MV Jayanthi administered the oath to corporators. 198 newly elected corporators took the oath in the BBMP council here on Friday.
Voting will begin shortly for the post of Mayor.
Earlier report
Bengaluru: The stage is set for the crucial mayoral polls on Friday. The polls assume significance with the Congress and JD(S) having forged an alliance to upset BJP’s plans and wrest control of the BBMP council even after the saffron party won a simple majority in the August 22 polls.
Though the Congress-JD(S) coalition supported by independents claims to have the edge over the BJP, the slim margin is likely to give some tense moments to both sides till the end.
The BJP had won 100 wards out of 198, the Congress 76, JD(S) 14 and others 8. Besides corporators, the 260-member BBMP council includes 62 other members from Bengaluru with voting rights. They include Members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, MLAs and MLCs.
Nominations for mayor and deputy mayor posts will be received between 8 am and 9 am. Councillors will take the oath between 12 noon and 1 pm. After 1 pm, regional election commissioner will initiate election process.
With the magic number to gain control over BBMP being 131, the Congress-JD(S) alliance claims to have a combined strength of 132, while the BJP says it has 128 to 130 members.
In the backdrop of the JD(S) deciding to join hands with the Congress for the mayoral polls, the BJP had filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court, challenging Section 10 of the Karnataka Municipal Act 1976, which allows both non-corporators and corporators to participate in the mayoral poll.
The court on Wednesday ordered that the result of the mayoral election would be subject to the outcome of the petition. The police have made elaborate security arrangements in and around the BBMP premises to ensure that there are no untoward incidents during the elections. According to the notification issued by the regional commissioner, the process for the election of mayor and deputy mayor will begin with the filing of nominations by the candidates between 8 am and 9 am.
Corporators from both sides, camping in resorts in and outside the state, arrived directly from the resorts to the BBMP headquarters.
Kachakarahalli ward councillor Padmanabha Reddy and Byrasandra ward Nagaraju are said to be the contenders for the mayor’s post from BJP. The name will be finalised in the morning. Nagarthna Ramamurthy from Pattabhiramanagar is eyeing the deputy mayor post.
A BJP leader claimed that some independents do not want to vote for those two parties.
“They are likely to be absent on Friday, which will favour the BJP,” he told sources.
If the coalition wins, according to the understanding, Congress will occupy the mayor’s chair, while JD(S) gets the deputy mayor’s post. From Congress, Manjunath Reddy (Madiwala), Uday Kumar (Hagaduru), Shivaraj (Shankar Mutt) and Gunashekar (Jayamahal) are some of the frontrunners for the mayoral poll.
JD(S) spokesperson Ramesh Babu said that they have finalised the name of Hemalatha Gopalaiah from Vrishabhavathinagar ward for the deputy mayor’s post.
