BENGALURU: A day after Mayor Shantha Kumari (BJP) said she wanted to make the city free from flexes, posters and banners, thousands of posters were put up by her party followers and elected representatives across the city to welcome party national president Amit Shah. None of these posters have permission from BBMP.
Posters and hoardings greeting Amit Shah have come up in and around Malleswaram, where the BJP office is located, West of Chord Road, Windsor Manor bridge and surrounding areas, Jayanagar and Rajajinagar among other places,
A BBMP official said, “On the one hand, the Mayor directs zonal commissioners and assistant revenue officers to clear posters and banners within 15 days and warns of submitting a report against the officers to the Upa Lokayukta. Now her own party members have put up posters across the city. Whose fault is this? If our people go to clear them, we get calls from MLAs and councillors asking us not to remove them,” he said.
Speaking to Express, BJP city president Subba Narasimha denied that the hoardings were erected by the party office. “We had instructed all our members including elected representatives not to put up posters. But some activists have done so. We have instructed them to clear them by Saturday evening,” he said. “Even in the future, we shall ask them not to put up posters ahead of any leader’s visit,” he added.
When asked about the posters, the Mayor expressed helplessness. “We shall clear them ourselves. They can’t be cleared in a day. We need three days to clear these posters,” she said.