The BJP, in its campaign for Bengaluru, places the blame for everything that has gone wrong in the city on the Congress. For the most part, its narrative, blaming the incumbent government for the urban deterioration of the city, seems to be sticking given that the Congress and the JD(S) share power in the BBMP.
The BJP won a simple majority in the civic body council in 2015. However, the Congress, the JD(S) and Independents joined hands to wrest it.
The Congress has given the city three Mayors, two of whom are contesting the Assembly polls.
The Opposition repeatedly accused Bengaluru development K.J. George, and three MLAs, B.A. Basavaraj, Muniratna and S.T. Somashekhar, of dominating the BBMP.
In many ways, the BJP is almost off the hook, even as Congress faces a double anti-incumbency factor, senior civic councillors across the Congress and BJP agree.
For instance in 2013, the BJP was in a similar position, in power both in the State and the civic body, and faced a wave of anti-incumbency.
Its MLA seat tally in the city fell down from 17 to 12. “If we had assumed power in BBMP, we would have given a good administration, but we would also be answerable. We would have also had to take a part of the blame for the city’s mess, which we don’t have to now,” said a senior BJP leader in the civic body. Several Congress leaders, however, waved off fears of anti-incumbency in the city and claimed that there has been a positive wave instead.
“The BJP’s tenure in the BBMP was one of the worst. They left the civic body in a financial mess which we have restored to fiscal health. There is no anti-incumbency factor against Congress,” argued Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy. The Congress’ communication in the city is not without problems. “Mr. George is the face of the party in the city. But he also has an image problem stemming from conflict of interest,” said a civic activist. Harish Narasappa of DAKSH that conducted the Karnataka Voter Survey – 2018 said that with the exception of Indira Canteens, the Congress has no big achievement that it can claim credit for. “But many problems of the city are attributed to them and some to Mr. George in particular like the steel bridge and flooding [during the monsoon],” he said.
