Gangambike Mallikarjun of the Congress party became the 52nd mayor of Bengaluru, while Ramila Umashankar of the Janata Dal (Secular) was elected the deputy mayor in the mayoral elections held in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council hall on Friday.
Amid high drama, the Congress-JD(S) alliance once again wrested the top posts despite the BJP holding 101 seats in the 198-member city corporation. The support of eight independents became crucial for both the parties to stake claim to the council. According to sources, the BJP had allegedly hosted the independents in a city resort ahead of the elections. However, the party's strategy seemed to have failed miserably as the Congress efforts paid off.
While the total number of eligible voters for the mayoral elections is 259, which includes the MLAs, MLCs and MPs, only 253 voters signed the register and hence qualified to vote. Besides two Congress and one JD(S) councillors, Congress MLA Roshan Baig was also absent. The BJP suffered a setback when Union ministers H.N. Ananth Kumar and Nirmala Sitharaman did not turn up to vote owing to prior commitments.
Gangambike bagged 130 votes, three more than the magic number. The BJP strongly protested against the Regional Commissioner Shivayogi Kalasad's decision to allow four Congressmen, accused of violating norms, to vote. BJP leader Padmanabhanagar Reddy alleged that the Congress leaders—Jairam Ramesh, V.S. Ugrappa, C. R. Manohara and Raghu Achar—had violated the norms by enrolling as voters in two places and demanded that their voting rights be curtailed. The BJP staged a walkout from the council opposing the election officer's decision. BJP's nominees Shobha Anjanappa and Pratibha Dhanraj were defeated though the senior party leaders were hopeful of securing a win till the last minute.
Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara said, "The (Congress-JD(S)) alliance bagging both posts goes to say the coalition government in the state is going steady."
BJP leader R. Ashok said, "The polls were unfair as the members were walking in and out. The Congress used force to drag away an independent councillor in our presence. Our strategy was good and we hoped to win by one vote. But the 'goondaism' by the Congress and the fact that four Congressmen were allowed to vote against norms compelled us to walk out of the elections."