G. Padmavati was elected the 50th mayor of Bengaluru after the Congress-JD(S) alliance ensured the victory of the Congress corporator in the mayoral elections held on Wednesday. The four-time corporator from Prakashnagar ward bagged 142 votes, seven more than the magic number, and defeated her opponent and BJP corporator from Ganesh Mandir ward Lakshmi B.H. who got 120 votes.
The Congress and JD(S) had struck an alliance to keep the BJP out of power, as the saffron party has 127 members in the 269-member municipal council of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. Congress has 112 members and the JD(S) has 23.
As per the reservation roaster, the mayor post is reserved for the backward minority while the deputy mayor post is for the general category.
The electorate for the two polls includes corporators, members of the legislative council and legislative assembly and members of parliament. Padmavati was elected for one-year term ending September 27, 2017.
The BJP staged a walk out boycotting the deputy mayor elections as Regional Commissioner M.V. Jayanti denied two BJP members permission to vote as they turned up late. BJP members argued that the members had been held up at the all-party meeting convened by the chief minister. JD(S) corporator Anand from Radhakrishna ward was elected the new deputy mayor.
Padmavati garlanded the statue of Kempegowda, the architect of Bengaluru and assured to focus on burning issues like garbage disposal, traffic jams and bad roads, while refusing to stall the ongoing demolition drive to clear encroachment of storm water drains. "Demolitions are inevitable to prevent flooding and this move will also beautify our global city," she said.
