JOIN USThe wooing game begins in Palike
A day after the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Council meeting, twenty-five corporators flew to Hong Kong on March 1, got their fill of “holiday fun”, and returned with a pledge to work hard for their ''sponsor''.
The junket, it is said, was part of hectic lobbying ahead of P Sharadamma’s term as Mayor ending on April 23. The next term for the top post is reserved for the Backward Castes (A Category) who constitute about 25 per cent of the total number of corporators. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Palike has 35 corporators belonging to the same community.
Wooing corporators
Those who have set their eyes on the plum post have already started wooing their fellow corporators.
According to BJP sources, four names are doing the rounds - D Venkatesh Murthy (Katriguppe Ward), B V Ganesh (Chamarajpet Ward), B Somashekhar (Shakambari Nagar Ward) and Moodalapalya corporator N Shantha Kumari - for the mayor’s post. While all the four aspirants are doing all they can to ascend the mayor seat, 25 corporators were taken on a two-day tour of Hong Kong where they reportedly discussed strategies for campaigning for their sponsor.
The 25 corporators included 16 from the BJP, seven from the Congress and two Independents.
There were murmurs in the Palike circles that the foreign trip was organised by D Venkatesh Murthy, who stoutly denied saying, “We Kurubas are a united community. Irrespective of party affiliations, Kuruba corporators keep organising some event. Last time, we organised a trip to Kalkere. We did go to Hong Kong, but that trip was organised by Hoodi corporator Basavaraj. We plan to go abroad again, next month,” said Murthy.
Candid expression
However, he was candid about his desire to become the next mayor. “I won’t say I am not in the race for the mayor’s post. I am a three-time corporator. I was the Opposition leader in the Palike Council and I also headed a standing committee. Besides, I am the senior vice president of Kuruba Samaaja Sangha. People know how hard I have worked to build the party. So, I see myself as a strong contender for the mayor’s post,” said Murthy.
Another aspirant B V Ganesh said his party would consider his candidature, given the kind of work he had done as the Education Committee chairman.
“I don’t need to sponsor foreign trips to push for my candidature. There’s no point doing all this. My entire party is with me,” adds Ganesh.