The newly-elected BBMP council will have a majority of women as at least 100 women were elected across reserved and non-reserved wards in the just concluded elections. This is a first for the council as previously, 68 women had been elected as councillors.
Women’s reservation, which was 33 per cent in the 2010 elections, was increased to 50 percent for the first time in Karnataka. With a combination of reserved seats and female candidates winning from unreserved wards, women have managed to form the majority in the council this time. Reservation was provided under several categories — SC, ST, Backward Class A and Backward Class B besides General class.
However, a lot of candidates who contested the reserved seats and won on Tuesday did not hesitate to point out that they would be depending on their husbands to help them with the job.
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Netravathi Krishnegowda, who won on Tuesday from Ramaswamypalya ward, told supporters as soon as the results were announced, “I will continue the work carried out by my husband.”
Former mayor Shantakumari, who contested from the unreserved Maruti Mandir ward, defeated Siddharth C. of the Congress by a narrow margin of 120 votes. Her victory took the number of female councillors to 100, past the halfway mark in the 198-member council.