Congress not ready to give Mayor's post to JD(S)

BENGALURU: While the BBMP is making all arrangements for the mayoral elections on September 28, speculation continues on who will clinch the mayor’s post this year.

Leaders of the ruling Congress seem to favour continuation of the alliance with the JD(S) to share power in the BBMP and retain hold over the coveted posts of Mayor and deputy Mayor.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a meeting with party MLAs from Bengaluru on Wednesday. At this meeting, majority of the legislators favoured continuation of alliance with the JD(S).

Sources in the party said that even Mr Siddaramaiah favoured the alliance. He, however, skirted the contentious issue of giving the mayoral post to the JD(S) this time.

JD(S) state unit president H.D. Kumaraswamy had said his party would go with a party which would give them the mayor's post. But a few legislators were explicit in their claim that under any circumstances, the party should not give the mayor's post to the JD(S).

BBMP Mayor Manjunath Reddy (Congress) told Deccan Chronicle, “We are in talks with Mr Siddaramaiah, Mr Ramalinga Reddy, JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy. It is too early to comment on the alliance. We are yet to come to a conclusion.”

Though both the BJP, the single largest party in the Palike with 100 seats, and the Congress are holding talks with the JD(S) to come to power, the biggest stumbling block seems to be Mr Kumaraswamy’s claim for the mayor’s post.