Give us mayor's post to get our support, JD(S) tells parties

JD(S) state president H D Kuma­ra­s­wa­m­y on Wednesday said that his party would support that party which would assure JD(S) the mayoral post in the BBMP council.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy reiterated that his party had been let down by the ruling Congress, especially when it came to taking decisions during the demolition drive in the city.

He said that the government had selectively razed down structures, not laying a finger on structures owned by influential persons. He wondered why the government had not cleared encroachments by actor Darshan, former minister Shamanur Shivashankarappa, and the Orion Mall.

“Where are the Mayor and the BBMP Commissioner now? They selectively razed down 140 houses - why haven’t they continued the drive? Moreover, we (JDS) are partners in the BBMP council. The government did not bother to consult us when the decision to initiate the demolition drive was taken,” he said.

He said his party was yet to take a decision on which party (the Congress or the BJP) to support in the upcoming Mayoral polls, as it was currently focused on the Cauvery issue.

He also added that it was ironic that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, by convening a meeting of the City MLAs on Wednesday, had made Mayoral polls “top priority”, instead of finding solutions to the Cauvery issue.

Will not yield to JD(S) tactics: CM
Sources in the Congress said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had told the party legislators that he will not yield to arm-twisting tactics by the JD(S) on continuing a tie-up between the two parties in the coming elections to the Bengaluru city mayor.
The Congress is for continuing the tie-up with the JD(S) in the BBMP council in the interest of Bengaluru. But the party will not agree if the JD(S) will come up with unreasonable demands. Agreement reached by the two parties last year should be continued. Or else, the Congress is ready to sit in the opposition benches (in the BBMP council), Siddaramaiah is learnt to have said.
The Congress had given away the post of deputy mayor and chairmen of two of the BBMP standing committees to the JD(S) last year. This year, the JD(S) has kept the Congress on tenterhooks by not revealing whether it would continue its support or not in the BBMP.