Bengaluru mayors’ post up for grabs, hectic lobbying in BJP camp
2 Aug 2014 11:35 AM IST
Tenure of the incumbent mayor has been shortened to seven months
Bengaluru municipal Corporation building. (Photo: DC/File)
BENGALULRU: With the term of incumbent Mayor Katte Satyanarayana and his deputy N. Indira coming to an end on September 4, hectic lobbying has begun for their successors, whose term will last for about seven months, after which BBMP elections will be held.
With the post of mayor and deputy mayor reserved for general category as per the roster, some of the senior corporators, including a few women, have begun approaching their political godfathers.
The tenure of the incumbent mayor has been shortened to seven months because former Mayor Venkatesh Murthy, who preceded Mr Katte, had stayed put for about 17 months, due to the litigation in the court about the reservation and code of conduct for assembly polls.
Shantakumari from Moodalapalya and Geetha Vivekananda from Vijnananagar wards are two strong women contenders for the Mayor’s post. Byrasandra ward corporator M. Nagaraju, A. H. Basavaraj from Banashankari temple ward and B. R. Nanjundappa from JP Park ward are also in race for the coveted post.
Basavaraj enjoys the backing of former Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok and belongs to Tigala community, which plays a major role in Bengaluru Karaga. Shantakumari has the support of senior BJP leader Somanna, who also hails from his constituency and belongs to Kuruba community. She was reportedly promised the post of mayor last year and is the front runner this year.
However, the fact that former Mayor Venkatesh Murthy was also from Kuruba community may dampen her chances. Geetah Vivekananda and A. L. Shivakumar have the backing of the RSS.
( Source : dc )
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