There were no surprises as Basavanagudi councillor B.S. Sathyanarayana and Byatarayanapura councillor Indira were unanimously elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the Ruling Party in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), announced on Wednesday morning that only Mr. Sathyanarayana would file his nomination papers for the Mayor’s post, reserved for the general category.
Sources said that the party had also issued a whip to ensure that the four-time councillor is elected unopposed.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Deputy Mayor’s post was reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (woman) category and as the only councillor in the BBMP council belonging to that category, Ms. Indira’s election was also not contested.
The election proceedings, conducted by Regional Commissioner Gauvrav Gupta, commenced at around 1.15 p.m. Mr. Sathyanarayana, who had filed two nominations, was declared Mayor at around 1.30 p.m. Ms. Indira was declared elected at around 1.45 p.m. Soon after, the councillors made a beeline to the podium to congratulate the newly elected First Citizen and his deputy.
The election to the 12 Standing Committees was also scheduled on Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, soon after the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the councillors exited the council. The Regional Commissioner adjourned the meeting for 30 minutes. After the meeting resumed, he postponed the election due to lack of quorum.
BJP sources said that it had already been decided to postpone the election to the 12 standing committees. The election will now be held only after the city in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy returns to the city from his foreign jaunt.