Ex-mayors eye councillors seats

BANGALORE: Three former mayors are contesting the BBMP election to become councillors. They all belong to the Congress, which has otherwise refused to give poll tickets to other former mayors.
K Chandrashekhar, former Basavanagudi MLA and mayor in 2001, is contesting from ward No. 155, Hanumanthnagar. P R Ramesh, another former mayor, who had been fighting the government in court to conduct the election, is contesting from Vishweshwarapuram, ward No.143. The last one is R Narayanaswamy, who is contesting from ward No. 16, Jalahalli.
P R Ramesh, who is busy with door-to-door campaigning, says, “After BMP became BBMP, three distinctive categories came up — developed core area, underdeveloped CMCs and 110 villages — all of which need to be developed from scratch.
There is no transparency in the system and funds for public projects have been misused. These are the reasons why my party asked me to contest.”
According to Ramesh, his campaign has been going on smoothly. He said people feel they have been cheated of their basic needs. “Had we not fought against the last-minute tendering processes in recent months, Rs 1,500 crore of public money would have been wasted. We want to ensure in the council that there is no more wastage,” Ramesh pointed out.
K Chandrashekhar, is campaigning in his home-turf Hanumanthnagar, has the same view. “There is large-scale corruption in the BBMP, so my party asked me to jump into the fray. Schemes such as Akrama-Sakrama is a burden on people. The council needs knowledgeable netas so that people are not cheated like this,” he said.
The response has been positive for Chandrashekhar, who also contested the 2008 assembly elections and lost. “People are aware of my past good work in the locality, and I am confident of winning the election,” he added.
Other former mayors Mumtaz Begum, Lakkana, KHN Simha and J Huchchappa also wanted Congress tickets but were denied at the last moment.
Begum, who wanted a ticket from Shivajinagar, said she will abide by the party’s decision.
Ramachandrappa, who has stayed out of the race, said, “I was a mayor, and now I don’t want to return as councillor. But we will keep working for the city’s progress.”