BJP loses Bengaluru Mayor slot to Congress-JD (S) combine

Congress mayoral candidate B N Manjunath Reddy defeated the BJP's nominee G Manjunath Raju by four votes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory tweet to his Bharatiya Janata Party unit for winning the prestigious civic polls here was a bit premature. The Congress, now governing the state, has in league with the Janata Dal (S), captured the post of mayor.

A third-time councillor, B N Manjunath Reddy, is the new mayor. He was also endorsed as a candidate by the bipartisan citizens’ initiative for better public governance, Bangalore Political Action Committee (B-PAC). Hemalatha Gopalaiah of the JD (S) is deputy mayor.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, with an annual budget of Rs 6,000 crore, is the richest corporation in the state.

“Pleased to note that @BPACofficial endorsed the new mayor. I am sure he will improve the city. Congratulations,” tweeted Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, also president of BPAC.  

The BJP had won 100 of the 198 council seats in the election, whose results were announced on August 25. The Congress had 75 and the JD(S) 14. However, a provision in the Karnataka Municipal Act, 1976, allowed elected representatives from the city to vote in the mayoral polls. This enabled helped the Congress-JD (S) combine to muster 131 votes. The BJP got 128 votes. Vijay Mallya, a Rajya Sabha member from the city did not vote.

The BJP accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of subverting democracy in the state. “We had the people’s mandate that has been hijacked by the Congress and JD(S)," said Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu.

The high court is hearing a case filed by the BJP against the provision in the said municipal law which allows non-councillors to participate in the mayoral poll.

Siddaramaiah said the state government would continue to improve the city and would launch new programmes.