The good, the bad & the ugly: First day of the newly elected BBMP council sees it all

Darkness, enlightenment and glimpses of what is in store for the city. The inaugural proceedings of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council on Friday was replete with sermons and verbal spats between the ruling party and the opposition, only to be punctuated by two blackouts.

It was celebration time for the BJP as its men — senior corporator from Sarakki ward SK Nataraj, and young MTech graduate from Benniganahalli ward N Dayanand — were elected as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.

But soon after, Hanumanthanagar corporator and former mayor K Chandrashekar triggered commotion. He wanted to take the oath when the council was congratulating the mayor and deputy mayor.
Chandrashekar could not participate in the oath-taking ceremony along with the other corporators. “He wants to do everything differently just to seek attention. He deliberately avoided taking the oath with the others just to attract attention,” senior BJP member Gangabairaiah said.

Chandrashekar’s congratulatory words to the mayor also blew up into a verbal duel with the ruling party. “The mayor only has 216 working days in his one-year tenure. How will you ensure that we Bangaloreans enjoy all civic amenities in such less time?” he questioned. Hearing this, city in-charge minister R Ashoka flared up: “You need not enjoy anything.”

But the Hanumanthanagar corporator went on with his tirade against the mayor. “Nataraj is the 44th mayor. Four and four adds up to eight. According to numerology, eight represents Rahu, which is an ill omen,” he said.

Nataraj brushed the comment aside and reminded Chandrashekar to wind up his long speech. Even the BJP corporators objected to his long talk which seemed to deviate from the context. But opposition leader N Nagaraj came to his rescue. “It is appropriate that we express our concerns. Chandrashekar should not be interrupted unnecessarily,” he said.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of supporters gathered outside the council hall to watch the proceedings on a screen in the glass house. There were flowers, music, party flags and fireworks all over.

Kempegowda ward corporator Y Ashwath was innovatively dressed for the ceremony. He donned the attire of the founder of Bangalore, King Kempegowda, and came astride a horse. “I represent the ward named after the city’s founder, and hence, I’ve dressed up like him,” Ashwath said.

The women corporators were accompanied by their husbands who did more of the talking with the media than their wives.
Despite the large crowd outside the council hall, the event was a smooth affair with well-organised police security.

The election process also went off well, starting at 8 am as scheduled. Nataraj filed his nomination for the mayor’s post at 9.25 am. He was proposed by B Somashekara and seconded by N Chandrashekara Raju. Dayanand was proposed by M Krishnappa for the deputy mayor’s post, and it was seconded by K Chandrashekar.

For the first time ever, the two were elected unanimously.While Nataraj assumed office as the 44th mayor, Dayanand was elected as the 45th deputy mayor of Bangalore.

Senior Congress leader and third time corporator Nagaraj from Nandini Layout was elected as the opposition leader, and Padmanabha Reddy as JD(S) floor leader.