Bengaluru gets Congress Mayor, BJP defeated by 3 votes

Congress councilor Manjunath Reddy has been elected as the 49th mayor of Bengaluru after he secured 131 votes in the polling on Friday. Congress' alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) councilor Hemavathi Gopalaiah was elected as the deputy mayor of the city.

The Cong-JD(S) alliance beat the BJP candidates by a margin of 4 votes despite the latter having the highest number of councilors (100) in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The BJP termed the election as "murder of democracy", as the Congress with 76 councilors, tied up with the JD(S), which has 14 councilors and 6 Independent councilors, to snatch the posts of the mayor and the deputy mayor.

In the election, the BJP had a clear mandate from the people over the other parties, but urban local bodies' rules clearly specify that any party candidate, who secures the maximum votes from the electorate (comprising councilors, local MPs, MLAs and MLCs), is eligible to become the mayor.

Union Minister and veteran BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said even though Congress and JDS have come together to gain majority in the BBMP Council, it did not reflect the people's mandate. "By coming together, they (JDS and Congress) managed majority in the election, but that does not reflect people's mandate which was given to BJP," he said.

Siddaramaiah said the party would make all efforts to build the image of Bengaluru. "Whatever we had promised to the people before the election, we will try to meet them. We will also make all efforts to build the brand of Bengaluru," he said replying to a question.

Asked how long the Congress and JDS alliance would last, Siddaramaih said, "For the next five years." Naidu said the party would wait for the court verdict.

"We will wait for the court verdict we will have 100 votes with MLAs, MLCs and MPs, not having powers to participate in the election - the remaining you understand better," he added.