Bengaluru: As the BBMP polls near, all the major political parties – Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (S) – have started the process of shortlisting candidates.
While it earlier looked like the Congress, which is also the ruling party in the state, had an edge over other parties, political observers say that the BJP has a slight advantage because the Congress shot itself in the foot by creating confusion over holding the local body polls.
“The Congress was never in favour of holding the elections, and when it came to the crunch, it hurried to draw up strategies. The chief minister’s city round was one such initiative, but it came too little too late. The city rounds soon degenerated into campaigns for votes, and citizens are not blind to this,” a source said.
On the other hand, there were reports that the BJP, which was in power at the BBMP for five years, too did not want elections as the party had a tough time agreeing on final candidates.
But now, Union ministers H.N. Ananth Kumar and Sadananda Gowda, and MP P.C. Mohan have taken the responsibility of choosing the right candidates.
“A select committee that includes Ananth Kumar, former deputy chief minister R. Ashok, MLAs Aravind Limbavali and Suresh Kumar among others, will have the final say in the selection of candidates. As the Congress has appointed one minister per constituency as an observer, the BJP MLAs and MPs too will come up with strategies that will ensure the party’s success,” a source from the party said.
There are 12 BJP MLAs and one JD(S) legislator from Bengaluru Urban, while the rest are Congress members. “We would like to believe we have an edge and all that it takes to win the magic numbers,” said Rajajinagar MLA and senior BJP leader Suresh Kumar.
“All the 113 BJP corporators have been reached out to the micro level and their contribution is significant. Though the reservation matrix is a disadvantage, we know that in reality, people do vote for good governance. After the Congress’ dilly-dally over the BBMP elections, voters will think twice before voting a party that did not want to give a democratic choice to the people.” Can the BJP work its magic this time too?
