BANGALORE: Even on the day before the elections for the coveted posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the ruling party BJP, is yet to finalise “suitable candidates”. However, sources said Katriguppe councillor Venkatesh Murthy is all set become the next Mayor of Bangalore.
Elections seem more like a formality as the BJP enjoys a majority in the council, sources claim.
While the Mayor’s post is reserved for 2A category candidate, the Deputy Mayor’s post is reserved for general category candidate.
Although Thigala and Devanga communities fall under 2A category, the ruling party wants a candidate from Kuruba community for the Mayor’s post and a Lingayat candidate for the Deputy Mayor’s post, sources said.
After they failed to nominate a candidate on Tuesday, MLAs and other leaders convened again on Wednesday.
Two strong contenders for the Mayor’s post are Katriguppe councillor D Venkatesh Murthy and Shakambarinagar councillor B Somashekar. Both belong to dominant Kuruba community.
While Venkatesh Murthy enjoys the support of state BJP president K S Eshwarappa, Somashekhar has the blessings of Home Minister R Ashok.
Sources from BJP said that some candidates were recommended by Central leaders Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar.
According to sources, this year, Mayor and Deputy Mayor have a crucial role as the state will face assembly elections during their tenure. “Naturally, the party is looking for a suitable candidate who can also gather votes during assembly elections,” sources said.
On Wednesday, leaders had gathered at Minister Ashok’s residence to finalsie the candidates, but in vain. However, party leaders then held a meeting at a hotel to decide the candidate for the elections on Thursday.
For the Deputy Mayor’s post, L Srinivas (Padmanabhanagar) and N Nagaraj (Byrasandra), have strong chances, sources said.