There was a year long delay in the urban local body polls and the political leaders were on pins and needles about the elections. But the time when they were worried about the electorate verdict has long  since  past and it is now time for new battle. They are now vying for the various posts that are available in the system.
The Kolar City Municipal is hung with no party  getting ann  absolute majority. The winner of the  last  elections, Congress is still the largest party in the municipal.

Therefore the party is confident that the Chairman and Vice chairman will be from the congress. This is especially the opinion of Legislator K Srinivas Gowda.

The Congress is  leading the  tally with 16 seats in the 35 seat municipal council with the independents coming in  second  with  14 seats and  JD(S) with a paltry 5 seats. Varthur R  Prakash who has  supported the  independents is now trying very hard to get the posts for his group.  But if this  has  to  happen a minimum of two third of Congress party should  defect otherwise they will stand to lose their seat under  the Anti-defection law.  Needless to say it is an uphill task, one that the leader seems to have  taken up with utmost enthusiasm.
His arch rival, MLA Srinivas Gowda had also  faced a lot of problems during the distribution of election tickets. Now his  main priority is  to ensure the power is not handed over Prakash and is now trying all the political tricks to make sure of it.

The legislator is  already  in talks with the Naseer Ahmed, MLC. It is being reported that that Gowda has asked for his support to come to power in the Municipal council. However the longevity of this pact is not even  an issue because both the leaders seem to be  quite clear about it being a temporary arrangement.
Sources  report that the two leaders  have  agreed upon this  and will hold discussions with District In-charge Minister  Alangur  Srinivas.

However the Congress is  has cracked the  whip and  made it clear that its  members will vote only on behalf of the party. It also  also the votes of the local legislators, Members of Parliment and therefore there seem to be  few hurdles in the party’s way to make it to power.

However there are disgruntled members in the Congress who were denied a ticket during the election. While they may cast the vote in the party’s favour albeit reluctantly, the times ahead promises to be  turbulent from within its  ranks.

Conditional support

The Congress will have  to join hands with the five member of  JD(S) for  it to come to  power in the council. However the JD(S) has made it very clear that it will  support the Congress only if one its members is made the Chairman.

With the political drama unfolding at the state  level, the Congress will need to give this condition serious  thought before forging any alliance with its erst- while partner .