Bengaluru:
Polling has begun for the stiff contest in the high-stake mayoral elections to Bengaluru's civic body in the midst of the Congress and the JD(S) forging an alliance to upset the BJP's plans to wrest control of the BBMP council even after the BJP bagged 100 of 198 seats in the August 22 polls.
BJP had won 100 wards out of 198 and Congress 76, JDS 14 and others eight. Besides corporators, the 260-member BBMP Council includes 62 other members from Bengaluru with voting rights. They include Members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, MLAs and MLCs.
With the magic number to gain control over the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) being 131, the Congress-JDS alliance, which claims to have a combined strength of 132, appears all set to sail through.
In the backdrop of the JDS deciding to join hands with the Congress for the mayoral polls, the BJP had filed a petition in Karnataka High Court, challenging Section 10 of Karnataka Municipal Act 1976, which allows both non-corporators and corporators to participate in the Mayoral poll.
The court had on Tuesday ordered that the result of the September 11 mayoral election would be subjected to the outcome of the petition.
However, the court had said it would keep aside the election of the mayor if the constitutionality of the participation of non-corporators was invalidated.
In the wake of hung council, police has imposed prohibitory orders on the premises of BBMP head office. Only members who have the right to vote will be allowed to participate in the election process. No outsider or member of the public, except mediapersons, will be allowed to cover the proceedings.