The dreams of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) councillors (barring two) making it big in State politics came crashing down. Of the nine councillors who were in the fray, only Hoody councillor B.A. Basavaraj and Yeshwantpur councillor Muniratna Naidu (Congress ticket) made it to the Assembly from K.R. Puram and Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly constituencies, respectively.
Mr. Basavaraj, a real estate agent and Mr. Muniratna, a contractor and film producer, had secured ticket amid opposition within the party.
The prominent losers were Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy, who lost to Congress candidate N.A. Haris in Shanthinagar Assembly constituency. The former Deputy Mayor S. Harish, who contested from Mahalakshmi Layout, lost to Janata Dal Secular candidate Gopalaiah K.
The former JD(S) floor leader in the BBMP Council, Padmanabha Reddy, who quit the party to contest on a BJP ticket, also lost in Sarvajnanagar to K.J. George (Congress).
BJP councillor from Chamarajpet B.V. Ganesh lost to the former Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan in Chamarajpet while Vijayanagar councillor H. Ravindra, contesting on a BJP ticket, lost to Priya Krishna of the Congress in Govindrajnagar.
Hegganahalli councillor M.B. Govinde Gowda contested as an Independent from Dasarahalli Assembly constituency but lost to Muniraju S. of the BJP. K.L.R. Thimmananjaiah (JD-S), councillor of Peenya Industrial Area, lost to Mr. Muniratna. Asked if he was disappointed with his defeat, the Mayor said, “No, in fact, it was a good experience. The party decided to nominate me. The wave in favour of the Congress worked in his (Mr. Haris’s ) favour. All the minority votes too went to him.” “I will continue serving the people as a councillor,” he added.
