With multiple aspirants throwing their hats in the ring, the Ballari Mayoral polls, scheduled for Thursday, is expected see a tough fight.
Of the 39 wards, the Congress has won 21 leaving 13 for the BJP and three for Independent candidates.
The Congress’ strength in the House has, however, grown to 26 with the support of Independent members.
As per an internal understanding, the party decided to have its leading members as Mayor on rotational basis. Rajeshwari Subbarayadu was elected Mayor for the first time followed by D. Triveni who was in the seat for seven months before resigning from the post on November 4 last year.
B. Shwetha then assumed office after a highly competitive election on January 10 this year. She had to face stiff competition not only from her party colleagues but also Independent members. The difference of opinion on the Mayoral candidate escalated to a stand-off between Ballari in-charge Minister B. Nagendra and Ballari City MLA Nara Bharath Reddy. The confrontation even led to the postponement of the Mayoral elections three times.
On the other hand, the BJP made all efforts to wrest power taking advantage of the differences among the Congress members and luring them to its camp. However, Ms. Shwetha, with the strong support of Mr. Nagendra, assumed office after all Congress and Independent members fell in line to support her.
The current Mayoral elections are also expected to be like the last one with multiple aspirants within the Congress and its supporters contending for the post which is reserved for the General candidate.
This time, member of Ward No 3 M. Prabhanjan Kumar, member of Ward No 18 Mallangi and member of Ward No 23 Gadappa are in the fray.
According to sources in the Congress, both Mr. Nagendra and Mr. Bharath Reddy are expected to support Mr. Prabhanjan Kumar considering his popularity among the civic body members as well as his family background.
“Mine has traditionally been a Congress family. We have served the Congress for several decades and strengthened it from the grassroots level to make Ballari a Congress stronghold. I am hopeful that the Congress will give me support in my race to the Mayoral post and a chance to serve Ballari in a better way,” Mr. Prabhanjan Kumar told The Hindu.
