Ticket rush shoos leaders away
BBMP election
Electoral ambitions could not get higher than this. At the stroke of 3 pm on Monday, when the deadline closed for filing of nominations to Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections, a whopping 1,243 names appeared on the list as Congress candidates, 796 as BJP representatives and 517 as Janata Dal (Secular) candidates.
The Palike has 198 wards, and with 1,032 more filing nominations as independents, the Election Commission will have a tough time scrutinising the list on Wednesday. The final picture will emerge only on March 19, the last day to withdraw the nominations.
While the final numbers can be much lower, the big rush indicated a very apparent trend of rebellion cutting across party lines. The defiant march of this rebel brigade left the Congress leaders, in particular, scurrying for cover yet again on Monday.
The heat was so intense that many senior Congress leaders remained inaccessible to other party leaders and workers. While KPCC President R V Deshpande left for Tirupati on Monday afternoon, senior party leader Siddaramaiah remained incommunicado.
Deshpande, it is learnt, will be celebrating his birthday in Tirupati on Tuesday. He took no calls. Moreover, the Congress office-bearers had either switched off their phones or were not receiving calls. Siddaramaiah, too, remained inaccessible to the media.
“The boss is very much in Bangalore. The whole afternoon he was resting because he hardly slept on Sunday night. He is tired and hence, he is not receiving calls,” was the reply from his aides.
Congress MLA Krishna Byregowda offered an explanation on this visible unrest over the ticket distribution. “There were too many aspirants for the ticket. The competition was intense. The party leaders and workers at all levels have been waiting for the elections from last three and a half years.
“Naturally the aspirants’ list has grown. Everyone can’t be candidates. Certain norms have been followed while selecting the candidates,” said Byregowda. The BJP got an edge over its arch rival Congress for being the ruling party.
It succeeded in suppressing voice of discontent, promising some good ranks in the party to the dissidents. Yet it could not come to a decision till Monday noon regarding its 44 candidates. It was about 12 noon that the party handed over B-Forms to the 44 candidates.
