Bengaluru Mayoral Election 2017: Congress candidate elected as BJP stages walkout

Despite being the single largest party int he previous BBMP elections, the BJP was restricted to the opposition role with the Congress-JD(S) coalition ruling the civic body

Congress candidate Sampath Raj was elected the 51st Mayor of Bengaluru on Thursday as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Mayoral elections came to an end. The election saw high drama with the Bharatiya Janata Party boycotting the process.

Keeping the coalition arrangement intact, JD(S)'s candidate Padmavathi Narasimhamurthy was elected as the deputy Mayor. The mayor post was reserved for a candidate from the Scheduled Caste community this time around and Sampath Raj, Congress corporator from Devara Jeevanahalli was elected.

The BJP, despite having a candidate, pulled out of the fray and staged a walkout alleging foul play. The party even registered a complaint with the state Election Commission that ineligible persons were registered as voters in the election. The walkout made little difference to the Congress-JD(S) combine with Mayor and Deputy Mayor chosen from the respective parties.

The new chief of Bengaluru's civic agency is inheriting notorious challenges. In the last one month, the city has witnessed massive rains resulting in loss of life and property, ailing lakes of Bengaluru, the neverending garbage crisis, health department challenges, potholes that give nightmares to citizens- and a host of other challenges lie ahead.

OneIndia News