Bengaluru: The KSPCB and city traffic police may aggressively be promoting 'No Honk Mondays' to curb noise pollution, but it was a rather unusually exasperating Monday in the city. Only, loud and relentless honks were replaced by the sounds of crackers, loudspeakers and slogans. As August 10 was the last date to submit nomination papers for BBMP elections, nearly 650 aspiring candidates chose the starting of the week to hold up the city.
It was a bitter shock for Bengalureans who followed their routine but were caught off-guard just as they hit roads. Candidates from all the major political parties towed by thousands of their followers held processions, padayatra, folk dance and even campaigned as they made their way to file nomination papers. In the melee, traffic came to a grinding halt in Majestic, Goods Shed Road, HAL Road, Murugeshpalya, Seshadri Road, Central Silk Board Junction, J.C Road, Trinity Circle, Town Hall, Mayo Hall Junction, Rajajinagar, Mahalakshmi Layout and Uttarahalli.
Ramesh, an auto driver in Uttarahalli, said, "Traffic was blocked for nearly two hours and vehicles were queued up on two km stretch. The candidates seemed to be following a folk dance performance and this disrupted the traffic. The followers did not allow any public vehicles on the road as the candidates walked."
According to Uttarahalli corporator Ramesh Raju, candidates from Congress, BJP and JD(S) filed their nominations on the same day. "Usually, candidates offer prayers before filing nomination papers, and in Uttarahalli, temple is located right at a major junction. The candidates were at the junction till 11.30 am and slow moving traffic was reported till then. However, soon after, the piled up traffic was cleared," he said.
In Mahalakshmi Layout and Govindarajanagar, the chaos on road doubled as all the BJP aspirants contesting from these constituencies filed their nomination papers together. Seven BJP candidates from the wards in Mahalakhshmi Layout constituency went on a padayatra with their followers, while 9 candidates contesting from Govindarajanagar Assembly constituency rallied to file nomination papers.
Ananya, a student, said, "I was late to college due to the padayatra in Mahalakshmi Layout. The supporters shouted slogans, burst crackers and brought the area on its knees. We were left on the road and the traffic police did not even make alternative routes. It was a Monday nightmare."
Although parties had announced the routes they would take to the local ward offices, where they filed nomination papers, it did not help commuters who were stranded on roads for hours. Some commuters even took to social media to express their anguish at being stuck in traffic.
Election Commission in chaos with 1166 nominations
The State Election Commission found itself flooded with a total of 1166 nominations for the upcoming BBMP elections. Candidates began filing their nomination papers early in the day, to meet the 3 pm deadline.
Drama ensued at the Commission, with prominent faces from both the Congress and BJP switching parties at the last moment. Both parties faced their share rebellion. Former MP – super cop HT Sangliana decided to field Mary as a rebel candidate in the Shivajinagar ward when the Congress refused to oblige his demand of giving a ticket to a member from a minority community.
The BJP took a U-turn at the last moment and decided to hand out tickets to former mayors. So far, the party had been adamant about not encouraging former mayors who wanted to contest the elections again this year. However, two days ago, it gave its nod to former mayor Shanthakumari, who will now contest from the Maruti Mandir ward. After much calculation, they also decided to bring two former mayors into the fold - Katte Satyanarayana as well as the wife of S.K. Nataraj.
Former mayor Satyanarayan will now contest from the Basavanagudi ward, of which he is a former corporator. The only two ex-mayors left out of the race where Sharadamma and D. Venkatesh Murthy who had cried foul over the party’s approach to handing out tickets. He had alleged that the BJP was selling its tickets.
The Congress was the only party to announce its final list of candidates at one shot. The BJP managed to announce candidates for 22 wards on Monday morning, but the JD(S) was welcoming former corporators from other parties even at 1 pm. Aspirants managed to get their JD(S) tickets two hours before the deadline and many of those who didn’t decided to contest as independents. The BJP’s last-minute announcement means that it will field candidates from 198 wards, on par with the Congress. The JD(S) will have contestants in 195 wards.
Disappointed candidates jump ship, join JD(S)
As the day progressed, every hour took an interesting turn in the battlefield. By Monday afternoon, candidates who realized that they were denied of tickets to contest this election, decided to swap parties in the last minute. And the welcoming arms for all such candidates was JD(S) party.
Under the presence of party supremo H.D Devegowda and H.D Kumaraswamy, three former corporators from Congress and two former corporators from BJP managed to join the party. From Congress, former corporator T.Mallesh, who was denied ticket to contest from Subhash Nagar, switched parties and joined JD(S). He won a ticket to contest from the same ward. Another candidate, G.Girish, who was highly confident of winning a Congress ticket to contest from Dattareya Temple Ward (77), too changed party in a bid to win ticket.
He too was rewarded with a ticket in the last minute. Former corporator Ramegowda too left Congress hoping to win a ticket from JD(S). However, he continued to be disappointed as the party did not give him a ticket.
Two prominent faces of BJP, Somashekar and B.T Sreenivasa Murthy left the party to represent JD(S). Though Sreenivasa Murthy successfully managed to field his wife Shylaja, Somashekar was welcomed to the party but was not given a ticket. All the candidates were given B Form as soon as they joined the party and they filed their nomination papers just hours before the deadline.
AAP volunteer files nomination papers as independent candidate
Upset that AAP is not contesting the elections this year, party worker Aravind decided to quit the party and contest as an independent candidate from Govindarajanagar ward. He said that he had worked for the party and come to understand the problems of people at the ward level. “I was actively involved with AAP but they are not contesting. I am interested in serving the people, which is why I decided to stand as an indepdenent,” he said.
N.L Narendra Babu’s brother enters politics
Former MLA Narendra Babu’s brother N.L. Mahesh Kumar took a big leap into politics by winning a ticket to contest from Nagapura ward. Mahesh filed nomination papers at Rajajinagar RO office on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, Babu said that he had represented the same area as a corporator before he was chosen as the MLA from Mahalakshmi constituency. “I am confident that my brother will effectively work for the welfare of the ward,” he said.
30 applications disqualified: SEC
The State Election Commission released the names of 30 candidates who failed to declare election expenditure for 2010 elections. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, SEC secretary Honnamba said
that the list had been forwarded to the BBMP commissioner and all the ROs, who were told not to accept nominations from those candidates.
