A keen contest awaits all the seven BBMP wards under the Malleswaram constituency.
Strange, since BJP MLA Aswath Narayan has done much work here, with sanitary pipes relaid and roads tarred, at least in the core of Malleswaram. That should have ensured a cakewalk. But, middle class sensibilities seem to have been offended by the whiffs of scandals, venality and fratricidal warfare that have marred the BJP in recent months.
A straight fight between the BJP and Congress is on the cards here.
Congress candidate B Srinivas from Ward no 65, Aramanenagar, feels Meenakshi Bharath from Loksatta will help him cut into BJP’s vote bank. BJP aspirant from ward 45, Malleswaram, V Srinivas is banking on the popularity of Ashwath Narayan to propel him to the BBMP Council. Campaigning in the slums of Gayatri Devi Temple in Yashwanthpur, Srinivas assured his less affluent voters of ‘quick’ relief for their problems of sanitation and water woes.
With a bell in her hand, and a declared resolve to root out corruption, Meenakshi Bharath of Loksatta, has been wooing the voters by giving a ‘zero’ rupee note, “Winning is a definite option. The one-on-one campaigning has helped me to look into the troubles citizens are facing in the ward,” she said.
In the three wards reserved for the women, Gayatrinagar, Subramanayanagar and Rajamahal Guttahalli, the fight seems to be among the men behind the women candidates propped up from various parties. Flyers outlining the achievements of men whose wives are in the fray and pamphlets displaying prominent pictures of the candidate’s ‘better half’ show the apathy among the parties to field real contenders for the BBMP elections.
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