The three sons of G. Padmavathi, the newly elected mayor, had turned up at the BBMP Council on Wednesday to watch the election process. All of them are businessmen. Her second son, Manjunath Sunil, said that the family is elated at her election as the city's 50th mayor, a rare honour.
“My grandfather G. Gopal was a freedom fighter. The family comes from that tradition. Our mother is very particular that only she meets visitors who come to our home in connection with political work. The family will not interfere in the administration. We are here only to cheer her,” Mr. Sunil said.
Ms. Padmavathi, a BA graduate from Maharani Ammanni College, started her political career with Janata Dal, getting elected as a councillor twice from Ramamandira ward in Rajajinagar. She switched party and joined the Congress in 2000, when she was elected as a councillor from Parakash Nagar ward. She contested and lost the 2010 council polls and made a comeback in 2015.
