In many ways, Basavaraj Bommai's tenure as chief minister is like a T20 match - short and action-packed. Like every ball in the game, every move counts, especially to assert his leadership and polish up his government's report card ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls.
As he tries to make the most of every opportunity like a hard-hitter in T20 trying to keep the scoreboard ticking Bommai will face an uphill task of ensuring BJP's victory in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls, and set the momentum for Assembly elections.
The apex court has given eight weeks to the state government to prepare for the civic body elections. If things progress as per court directions, the elections are likely to be held around the time when the CM completes one year in office at the end of July.
Given the timing and its political ramifications, the polls will be crucial for Bommai to assert his leadership, within and outside the party. It will also put BJP's preparedness for the Assembly elections to test.
Bengaluru elections are unlike other local elections or bypolls. It will be a pointer to people's assessment of the CM and the government's performance, some sort of a referendum. With 28 Assembly segments and three Lok Sabha seats - all three represented by BJP - Bengaluru is politically significant for all the parties. More so for the BJP which is making all-out efforts to return to power on its own.
But its performance in the Assembly elections has not been as good as in LS polls. After a high of 17 out of 28 Assembly seats in 2008 under BS Yediyurappa's leadership, the BJP was down to 12 seats in 2013 and had to settle for just 11 in 2018. However, the tally of BJP MLAs from Bengaluru increased after the December 2019 bypolls.
Bommai will be keen to repeat Yediyurappa's 2010 performance in the city elections. After forming his government with a wafer-thin majority in 2008, the Lingayat strongman Yediyurappa faced several political challenges, but asserted his leadership by ensuring his party's victory in Bengaluru polls as well as the bypolls.
Bommai's style of functioning is different. Unlike Yediyurappa, he will not push more on his mass appeal, rather rely heavily on his performance and go before people with a report card during civic body as well as Assembly polls.
Ward-level elections in a cosmopolitan city are complex, intense and prestigious for parties. As expected, the CM and his team will rely on strong organisation. Many leaders - ST Somashekar, Byrati Basavaraj, Munirathna Naidu and others - who had played a key role in Congress during the last elections in the city, are now in BJP ranks.
Together they need to make extra efforts to win the city as the first step to overcome BJP’s jinx of falling short of getting a majority on its own in the Assembly. The party should eye those extra seats in Bengaluru to make up for their deficit in a major way. The aim should be to take its score close to 20 of the 28 seats to mount that hump.
But taking all the party biggies in the city together is a challenge. Many of the seven ministers from Bengaluru are eyeing the Bengaluru Development portfolio. To be on the safer side, Bommai - like Yediyurappa - has kept this high-profile department with himself.
But the perception is that as a Bengaluru Development minister, the CM might find it difficult to spend adequate time on the city issues although Bengaluru development is top on Bommai’s agenda, just like most of his predecessors.
Successive governments' lack of long-term vision for Bengaluru development has had a telling effect. Bengaluru is a major engine of India's economic growth, but its infrastructure struggles to keep pace with its expansion. Just a 90-minute rain can expose its vulnerabilities and threaten 'Brand Bengaluru'.
Unending traffic congestion has almost become normal. The condition of roads and pavements - except for some showpieces - indicates its state of civic infrastructure. The government, elected representatives or the officials do not score well on that front.
To put things in order, the government has committed to spend Rs 6,000 crore this year on the city's development. One has to wait and see how money will be spent to make life better in Namma Bengaluru.
Opposition Congress, JDS and AAP will make all-out efforts to highlight the government's shortcomings - a challenge for Bommai. Congress, still left with many veterans with a solid hold over politics in Bengaluru, continues to be a force to reckon with.
It is to be seen if Congress will be able to script its revival story from Bengaluru polls or will BJP shine in the semi-finals before the 'big finals' early next year. Karnataka politics will be action-packed - like the just-concluded T20 season.