BENGALURU: Congress-JDS coalition was designed in BBMP, but is being dismantled in the state. Senior leader Ramalinga Reddy and three other MLAs who worked to bring the Congress-JDS coalition to power in BBMP, are the same netas who are now shaking the alliance in the state government.
In 2015 BBMP elections, when BJP had 101 members (including one Independent), out of 198 in the BBMP Council, it was obvious that the BJP will be in power in BBMP and elect its Mayor and Deputy Mayor candidates with simple majority. However, three MLAs from Congress — S T Somashekar from Yeshwantpur, Byrathi Basavaraju from KR Puram, and Munirathna from Rajarajeshwarinagar shattered BJP’s dream by hatching the plan of coalition.
For mayoral elections, not just councillors, but both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, MLAs and MLCs are eligible to vote. In 2015, the coalition helped coalition candidate Manjunath Reddy from Congress, and Hemalatha Gopaliah from JDS, in becoming the Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively, by getting 131 votes as against BJP candidates. There was an allegation that a few MLCs residing outside Bengaluru were made to change their address to Bengaluru to become eligible to vote for the mayoral election.
A senior Congress councillor said, “People who were responsible to keep BJP away in BBMP are responsible in shaking the state government. This is shocking.’’
Now, the Congress and JDS councillors fear the fall of coalition in BBMP as well. “We would always be six or seven votes more than BJP. However, now most of the Congress and JDS MLAs who have resigned, are from Bengaluru. This also means that their numbers will not be considered for coalition in BBMP, thus making it wobbly,’’ a Congress councillor said.
Not just this, they also worry this will make a big impact on Congress councillors who are supporters of these MLAs.