Congress, JDS corporators in dilemma with rebel MLAs' threat to pull down Karnataka govt

Close to 20 BBMP corporators are in dilemma whether to stay in the Congress, JD(S) or move along with their patrons, who have resigned from MLA post ready to join the BJP to safeguard their "interest". While senior leader Ramalinga Reddy is touted to be sitting on the fence, others such as ST Somashekhar, Byrathi Basavaraj, Munirathna Naidu, and JDS MLA K Gopalaiah may go with the BJP.

yacoob md

Bengaluru, First Published Jul 15, 2019, 8:14 PM IST | Last Updated Jul 15, 2019, 8:14 PM IST

Bengaluru: With city MLAs ST Somashekhar, Byrathi Basavaraj, Munirathna Naidu and K Gopalaiah resigning, the corporators from their Assembly segments are worried as they don't know where to go.

Velu Nayakar, accounts committee chairman of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), was vocal about this turmoil and the fear among the corporators as there will be fresh BBMP election in one year from now. "We are in confusion now. We are born Congressmen. We want to continue staying in the party. We will also make efforts to convince our MLA Munirathna Naidu to stay back in the Congress," Nayakar opined.

The corporator, who represents Lakshmidevi Nagar ward, which is a Congress bastion, may lose as the BJP aspirants have been working in tandem. In case he joins the BJP, he may not get a ticket due to seniority issues. In case, his patron Munirathna gets him a ticket, the seniors in the BJP will work against Nayakar.

Agreeing with the possibility of corporators' fate hanging in balance, former mayor G Padmavathi said that the respective MLAs would protect the interest of their followers and may even succeed in getting them a ticket to contest as BBMP corporator, but the real issue will arise when the original BJP workers protest.

"The BJP ticket aspirants and their supporters in the respective wards will turn rebels. The defeated MLA candidates would have been working and they will feel dejected and may end up spoiling our chances," said Padmavathi.

However, SG Nagaraj BBMP town planning chairman said that it is the work that matters when it comes to municipal body and corporation elections.
"Byrathi Basavaraj is my godfather and whatever decision he takes, I will have to stand by it. Winning the election in the BBMP ward will be based purely on the efforts and projects executed by sitting corporators."

For more reliable and latest news