Madiwala councillor BN Manjunath Reddy was elected the mayor and Hemalatha Gopalaiah from JD(S) the deputy mayor of Bengaluru on Friday after Congress won the mayoral polls with 131 votes.
The BJP, which won the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) poll for the third time, failed to garner maximum votes to claim authority on the civic body. The BJP won the majority of council seats in the 22 August BBMP elections, grabbing 100 out of 198 seats in the civic body. The Congress won 76 seats, JD(S) 14 and others 8.
The final decision on the election of mayor and deputy mayor will be based on Karnataka High Court's decision on the petition challenging Section Section 7 and 10 that allows MLAs, MLCs and parliamentarians to vote for the election of mayor and deputy mayor on the city. The petition was filed by five BJP councillors.
To elect the mayor and deputy mayor, a party needs to add up their number to 131, including the votes of MLAs, MLCs and parliamentarians. The BBMP council has 260 members, including 62 MLAs, MLCs and MPs, The New Indian Express reported
With combined votes from MPs, MLAs and MLCs, the Congress achieved the maximum required number and won the mayoral elections.
Madiwala corporator B N Manjunath Reddy becomes the Mayor of #BBMP - Bengaluru, with 131 votes. Result subjected to HC judgment on 29th.
— Citizen Matters (@citizenmatters) September 11, 2015
#FlashNews Results are out: B.N. Manjunath Reddy (Congress) becomes BBMP Mayor, Hemalatha Gopalaiah (JD-S) Deputy Mayor @TheHindu #BBMP
— Bengaluru Connect (@BloreConnect) September 11, 2015
Five new corporators from the BJP had approached the High Court challenging Section 7 and 10. BJP women corporators – M Pramila, R Pratima, Deepa Nagesh, Umavati Padmaraj and Kumari Palanikant – in their petition to the High Court said that only those who contest the elections for mayor must be allowed to vote and not MLAs, MLCs and MPs.
While the HC has asked BBMP to carry on with the mayoral polls on Friday, it stated that the final decision will depend on its ruling. The HC will hear the case again towards the end of the month, Deccan Chronicle reported.
"I need time to arrive at a conclusion to decide on the constitutionality of the participation of non-corporators in mayoral polls. So until then, I suggest that let the election to the mayor and deputy mayor's post be held," Justice Raghavendra S Chauhan said.
Who contended for the post of mayor and deputy mayor?
BJP councillors Padmanabha Reddy from Kacharakanahalli ward and Nagaraju from Byrasandra ward are contending for the post of mayor. Whereas, Nagarthna Ramamurthy from Pattabhiramanagar ward is expecting to be elected as the deputy mayor.
Congress councillors Manjunath Reddy from Madiwala, Uday Kumar from Hagaduru, Shivaraj from Shankar Mutt and Gunashekar from Jayamahal are said to be other contenders for the mayor's post, while JD(S) will get the deputy mayor's post, for which the name of Hemalatha Gopalaiah from Vrishabhavathinagar ward has been finalised.
The nominations for the both posts have been filed between 8 am to 9 am. The regional election commissioner will commence the election process at 1 pm.
