Ruling out an alliance with any party for the September 6 Mayoral polls, the BJP has decided to field candidates for the post of Mayor as well as Deputy Mayor.
The party leaders and party corporators attending a meeting in the city on Saturday were in favour of capturing power in the MCC on its own strength.
The leaders were of the opinion that the BJP should send a strong message for the coming Assembly elections by making all efforts to win the Mayoral polls on its own as it was the single-largest party in the MCC. The party will announce candidates by September 5.
BJP observer Nirmal Kumar Surana presided over the party meeting held in Mysuru on Saturday. Krishnaraja Assembly constituency MLA S.A. Ramdas, Chamaraja Assembly constituency MLA L. Nagendra, outgoing Mayor Sunanda Palanetra, Mysuru city BJP president Srivatsa, besides party leaders Rajendra and M.V. Ravishankar participated in the meeting attended by the party’s corporators.
BJP spokesperson M.A. Mohan said the party’s core committee meeting was held on Saturday to discuss the upcoming Mayoral polls.
Sources in the BJP said the frontrunners for the Mayor’s post included party corporators Shivakumar and M.V. Ramaprasad. There were a couple of aspirants among the corporators for Deputy Mayor’s post also.
The government has allotted the post of Mayor for a candidate from the general category while the post of Deputy Mayor has been reserved for a woman from Backward Class A.
The BJP, which has a total of 22 members in the 65-member MCC, is the single-largest party followed by the Congress’ 20 members and JD(S) 17 members. One member from the BSP and five Independents make up the rest of the House.
However, the other elected representatives to the Lok Sabha, Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council residing in Mysuru will also have voting powers during the Mayoral polls. If the strength of the other elected members is also taken into account, MCC sources said the BJP will have 26 votes including one MP, two MLAs and one MLC while the Congress will have 24 votes including one MLA and three MLCs. The JD(S) will have a total of 20 votes including one MLA and two MLCs.
