With the sudden demise of Ramila Umashankar, the election for the post of deputy mayor will have to be held soon. According to highly placed sources in the Congress, it will most likely be held along with elections to the 12 different standing committees of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The term of the incumbent standing committees comes to an end on November 9, and the elections may be held on November 12.
Sources added that the post will be retained by the Janata Dal (S), as per the initial understanding with its ally, the Congress.
JD(S) MLC T.A. Saravana told The Hindu that there had been no discussion on the elections to the post yet. He, however, confirmed that the party would retain the post. He said there were three probable candidates for the post — Bhadre Gowda from Nagapura ward, Rajashekhar from Vishwanatha Nagenahalli ward and Nethra Narayan, who is currently the JD(S) Floor Leader in the BBMP council.
It is unlikely that the BJP will field a candidate for the post. The BJP had recently tried to wrest power from the Congress-JD(S) combine in the BBMP council and failed in its attempt. A senior BJP leader said that the party may not field a candidate, given that it had failed to stake claim on the important post of mayor. “However, the party will take a call on the situation in a few days’ time,” the leader said.
