Though the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) are clamouring for the suspension of two councillors from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council, the ruling BJP seems to have ignored these demands.
Of the two councillors, one (Vasanthnagar councillor Katta Jagadish) is in judicial custody, while the other (Sampangiram Nagar councillor Gopi) is said to be “absconding”. It has been alleged that both Mr. Jagadish and Mr. Gopi are mentioned in the FIR that was filed in 2009 with the Bagalur Police Station.
The two parties allege that instead of suspending the two councillors, the BJP was “harbouring” them. Congress members claimed that when the Lokayukta caught Ganesh Mandir ward councillor Govindaraju while he was “accepting bribe”, he was immediately expelled from the party. The Government then suspended him from the council.
M. Ramachandrappa, Congress spokesperson and former Mayor, told The Hindu that the BJP, which claimed to be a “party with a difference”, was following double standards. “Be it Ministers Hartal Halappa and Ramachandra Gowda or MLA Sampangi, none of them have been expelled from the party. The party is trying to brush all charges under the carpet,” he charged.
Padmanabha Reddy, floor leader of the Janata Dal(S) in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council, was also of the opinion that the BJP was employing delay tactics, instead of acting against the tainted councillors.
“There is no doubt that both Mr. Gopi and Mr. Jagadish are involved in the KIADB scam. Since they have failed to mention the case registered against them in their nomination papers, they should be disqualified as per the Election Commission Rules. However, the party continues to dilly-dally,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP members are demanding that the two councillors be expelled from the party, besides being suspended from the BBMP Council. A party member, on the condition of anonymity, criticised the Mayor for acting like the BJP's spokesperson.
Mayor S.K. Nataraj told presspersons that action would be taken against the two only after the Lokayukta presented the report.
Jayanagar MLA B.N. Vijayakumar, who is president of the BJP's city unit, was non-committal and said that party leaders would meet soon to discuss the action to be initiated against the two councillors.
