With the city mayor Sharadamma’s term coming to an end by April, a tussle is already on to grab the top post in Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
With hectic lobbying already on, the million dollar question asked in the corridors of Palike is: “What will be the yardstick to choose the next first citizen of the city.”
With the post of 46th mayor being reserved for category ‘BC 2A’, six senior BJP corporators are determined to get lucky.
However, the real race is between Kathriguppe ward corporator D Venkatesh Murthy who is a three-time corporator and Banashankari Temple ward corporator AH Basavaraju. There are also other senior corporators such as Moodalapalya corporator N Shantakumari who has the experience of being a deputy mayor, Chamarajpet corporator BV Ganesh, Chickpet corporator and accounts committee chairman AL Shivakumar who is said to have a clean image.
Sources also say deputy mayor S Harish is also trying his luck for the post.
While the aspirants are busy wooing the senior party leaders to grab the plum post, the corridors of power in ruling BJP is abuzz with names of two candidates, D Venkatesh Murthy and AH Basavaraju.
While Murthy has the full support from the BJP state party president KS Eshwarappa who has an upper hand after the exit of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, Basavaraju is the ‘right hand man’ of home, transport and Bangalore urban district in-charge minister R Ashok whose support could prove decisive in this race for mayor and deputy mayor.
Ruling BJP is also concerned about facing general election next year rather than propping up the fortunes of the buddies.
The party thinks that this time the mayor should not only have the quality of commanding the goodwill of all the corporators but also have the capacity to mobilise ‘resources’ for fighting the next assembly polls.
Yet another factor is forcing leaders to worry if their candidates will miss the opportunity. Last year during the deputy mayor’s election, Murthy’s name was prominently heard for the post, but Eshwarappa convinced Murthy to back-off from the contest and promised him that it would his turn the next year.
Similarly, Ashok too had boosted the hopes of Basavaraju, who won the Banashankari Temple ward by-election, for the first time for BJP.
The situation may be a bit favouring the well educated Murthy who generally keeps a low profile in the rough and tumble politics of BBMP. Basavaraju’s meteoric rise from being a BMP pourakarmika (civic worker) to opposition party leader in 2005-06 has impressed many, thus giving him too a chance to aim for the top post.
Unlike the tussle for the mayor’s post, the choice of the deputy mayor has proved a no-hassle affair as the BJP has almost finalised the name of Byrasandra corporator N Nagaraj for the post.
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