Bengaluru Mayor race: Corporators woo former deputy chief minister R Ashok

BENGALURU: After the BBMP elections, hectic lobbying has begun for the coveted post of Mayor. Some of the senior corporators have already started lobbying with their political godfathers. Since former deputy chief minister R. Ashok holds the key to the post, senior corporators are approaching him to lobby for their cases.

In the wake of Bengaluru losing out on the smart city project, there has been a demand from the city to pick a mayor who can sync with the city rather than choosing on the basis of caste or other affiliation. An educated person, who is acquainted with the problems, will be able to find proper solution and work towards putting city on road to progress.

As per the notification, the post of the mayor has been reserved for general and deputy mayor post for general (women). Some of the senior corporators like L. Srinivas from Kumaraswamy layout ward, Padmanabha Reddy from Kacharakanahalli ward and N. Nagaraju from Byrasandra ward have started visiting Ashok.

Sources in BJP said the state government has to issue a notification on the mayor and deputy mayor reservation. Soon after the notification, senior leaders will meet and decide on the mayoral candidate. The party is looking for senior and efficient person to the post, said sources.

Senior corporator Nagaraju told Deccan Chronicle that since the Mayor post was reserved for general category, about four persons were vying for it. However, the party will take a call and all the corporators will abide by it, he added.

Soon after winning the polls, a few women corporators and their husbands took stock of the problems face by their respective wards.

Council should maintain transparency: T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, BBMP Administrator

BBMP Administrator T.M. Vijay Bhaskar has brought at least 35,000 new properties under the tax net. He has convinced the government to approve the advertisement renewal and added to the BBMP’s exchequer. He said controlling expenditure and maintaining transparency through online payments will definitely help the BBMP tide over the financial crisis. The following are the excerpts from an interview to DC.

How happy were you with your four-month long tenure as BBMP Administrator?

Certainly, I was very happy. It was a good opportunity for me to bring about many positive changes. I can proudly say that I have brought about certain financial discipline, in terms of revenue collection. Despite losing one-and-a-half months for BBMP polls and caste census, the Palike could collect '160 crore more than the corresponding period last year. So far, Rs 1,320 crore has been collected and the collection for the year 2015-16 will take place till April next year.

The BBMP has been deep in financial crisis with Rs 9,000 crore outstanding. With the elected representatives now taking over the Palike do you think the crisis can be dealt with?

The collection of property tax has been enhanced by bringing a total of 39,000 new properties under tax net. Besides, intensive revision of property tax too has improved collection by preventing under-valuation of tax. If the newly formed council sticks to realistic budget, then the BBMP can definitely pull itself out of the crisis in the next two years. Expenditure must be controlled and transparency must be maintained in payments to contractors and service providers.

You took measures to contain the garbage crisis in the city. What are your suggestions to the newly-formed council to ensure that the city does not witness garbage crisis again?

I suggest that the new tenders, which have been floated with certain amendments, must be finalised. This will prevent front-end garbage crisis as the number of pourakarmikas and auto rickshaws have been increased. Measures have been taken to collect dry and wet waste separately ensuring segregation of garbage, with the support of the public and the officials. This will improve door-to-door garbage collection. The council should also emphasise on scientific processing of segregated waste.

Can you list a couple of happy and unhappy moments during your stint in BBMP?

The happiest moment can be when I met pourakarmikas at Koramanagala with all safety gears during one of the chai pe charcha. Koramangala also has best turn out of pourakarmikas for work. The unhappy moment can be when BBMP workers staged dharna0 for suspending an erring officer and contractors going on protest to get their money released.