Updated
Bengaluru, Sep 11 (PTI): With support from Janata Dal (Secular) and Independents, Congress today clinched the coveted Mayor post as it edged out BJP by a slender three vote margin in the keenly contested city civic body poll.
Congress nominee B N Manjunath Reddy was elected Mayor of Bengaluru securing 131 votes while his rival B Manjunath Raju of BJP managed to get 128 votes.
BJP, which had emerged as the single largest party in the August 22 polls to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) bagging 100 of the 198 wards, dubbed the Mayoral poll outcome as being against the people's mandate to it.
However, the mayoral poll result is subject to the outcome of a petition by BJP corporators in the Karnataka High Court challenging the Section 10 of Karnataka Municipal Act 1976, which allows both non-corporators and corporators to vote in the Mayoral poll.
First-time JDS corporator S P Hemalatha, wife of MLA K Gopalaiah, was elected as Deputy Mayor securing 131 votes in the electoral college of 260, which included 62 non-corporators comprising members of Parliament, Legislative Assembly and Legislative Councils.
Congress and JDS came together to gain control of the IT City's civic body on their higher combined strength, including non-corporators.
Regional Commissioner Jayanthi, Presiding officer, declared the results.
Congratulating Reddy on becoming the new Mayor, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters that as expected the Congress-JDS combination won the mayoral poll because the BJP did not enjoy majority in BBMP Council.
Interestingly, BJP, which had kept its fingers crossed by banking on absentees in the Congress-JDS-Independents combine to scrape through the number-game, decided to allow its MPs and legislators to take part in the election today.
Union Minister and veteran BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said even though Congress and JDS have come together to gain majority in the BBMP Council, it did not reflect the people's mandate.
"By coming together, they (JDS and Congress) managed majority in the election, but that does not reflect people's mandate which was given to BJP," he said.
Siddaramaiah said the party would make all efforts to build the image of Bengaluru.
"Whatever we had promised to the people before the election, we will try to meet them. We will also make all efforts to build the brand of Bengaluru," he said replying to a question.
Asked how long the Congress and JDS alliance would last, Siddaramaih said, "For the next five years." (MORE) PTI BDN VS TVS VS KIS 09111728
Naidu said the party would wait for the court verdict.
"We will wait for the court verdict ... we will have 100 votes with MLAs, MLCs and MPs, not having powers to participate in the election - the remaining you understand better," he added.
Union Law Minister D V Sadananada Gowda also expressed confidence that the court would factor in the issues raised by the BJP members.
Ahead of the Mayoral polls, the rival parties took efforts to prevent possible poaching of their members.
The seven Independent and 76 Congress corporators, taken to Kerala and Madikeri, respectively, were ferried back to the city yesterday.
The parties had also issued a whip.
BJP had put up its corporators at the Golden Palms resort on the outskirts of the city and brought them back today.
The High Court had on September 9 ordered that the result of the Mayoral election would be subject to the outcome of the petition challenging the Section 10 of KMA.
Justice Raghavendra Chavan gave the interim order on a petition by five BJP corporators.
Earlier Report
Congress, JD(S) have edge in Bengaluru mayor poll - BJP keeps fingers crossed, relies on absentees
Bengaluru, Sep 11 (DHNS): Hectic parleys on the eve of Bengaluru mayoral polls saw the Congress and JD(S) thrash out details of power sharing arrangements within the urban civic body.
The JD(S) not only convinced the Congress to leave the deputy mayor’s post, but also managed to get additional members in the Town Planning Improvement and Major Public Works Committees.
After heavy bargaining, it was decided that of the 12 posts of standing committee chairpersons, seven would be held by Independents, three by Congress, and two by the JD(S).
The Congress held a series of meetings to finalise its mayoral candidate on Thursday. While Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy sided with Manjunath Reddy (BTM Layout), Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao pitched for Sathyanarayana (Gandhinagar).
MLA B A Basavaraj and MLC Byrathi Suresh rooted for Uday Kumar Reddy (Whitefield). The party finally agreed on Manjunath Reddy.
The JD(S) will field S P Hemalatha for the deputy mayor’s post, which is reserved for women. While the father-son duo of H D Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy operated from behind the scenes, second line leaders Zameer Ahmed Khan, Akhanda Srinivasamurthy, K Gopalaiah and T A Saravana met Ramalinga Reddy and Dinesh Gundu Rao, following the advice of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Congress and JD(S) corporators-elect, including the independents, were ferried back to the City on Thursday from resorts in Madikeri and Kerala. The parties also issued a whip.
The BJP kept its fingers crossed by banking on “absentees” in the Congress-JD(S)-independents combine to scrape through the number-game.
The party will announce mayoral candidate on Friday morning. Padmanabha Reddy (Kacharakanahalli), Manjunath Raju (Kadu Malleshwara), L Srinivas (Kumaraswamy Layout) and N Nagaraj (Byrasandra) have emerged as the front-runners. The BJP is likely to nominate H C Nagarathna Ramamurthy (Pattabhiramanagar) as its deputy mayoral candidate.
The Congress and the JD(S) have renewed their ties after nearly a decade. They had formed an alliance after the 2004 Assembly polls threw a hung verdict.