The Hindu                       18.04.2013

Councillors now eye Vidhana Soudha

Seven councillors have filed their nomination papers for the Assembly elections.

Our councillors have set their sights on bigger roles.
Several councillors, mostly seniors, have been nursing a secret ambition
of furthering their political careers by contesting in the May 5
Assembly elections.

So far, seven councillors have filed their nominations to contest in the Assembly elections.

While
five of these have been given ticket by the various political parties,
one has filed nomination as a rebel candidate and another as an
Independent candidate. Four councillors, who had entered the poll fray,
are contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket, including senior
councillor Padmanabha Reddy, who hopped from the Janata Dal (Secular) to
the BJP recently.

Mayor’s ambitions

Leading
the pack of councillors aspiring to enter the portals of the Vidhana
Soudha is Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy himself, who has been given the BJP
ticket to contest from the Shantinagar constituency.

Mr. Murthy told
The Hindu
he would file his nomination papers on Wednesday.

Councillor Muniratna Naidu has been given a Congress ticket though he is yet to file his nomination papers.

The
seven councillors who have filed nominations include former Deputy
Mayor S. Harish (Mahalakshmi Layout constituency – BJP),
Kacharakanahalli councillor Padmanabha Reddy (Sarvajna Nagar – BJP),
Chamarajpet councillor B.V. Ganesh (Chamarajpet – BJP), Hoody councillor
B.A. Basavaraj (K.R. Puram – Congress) and Vijayanagar councillor H.
Ravindra (Govindarajanagar – BJP).

Subhash Nagar
councillor Mallesh has filed his nomination to contest from Gandhinagar
constituency as a rebel candidate from the Congress, while Hegganahalli
councillor M.B. Govinde Gowda is keen on contesting from Dasarahalli
constituency as an independent candidate.

As an Independent

There
are several councillors who have been ‘overlooked’ by their respective
parties. Prominent among these is Hanumanthnagar councillor K.
Chandrashekar, who was earlier Basavanagudi MLA. Sources said that he
may contest once against from the same constituency as an Independent
candidate.

According to sources, the other seniors
who are still trying their luck at getting the ticket from their
respective parties include the former Mayor S.K. Nataraj (BJP), Nandini
Layout councillor M. Nagaraj (Congress), Siddapura councillor M.
Udayshankar (Congress), Pulikeshinagar councillor Abdul Rakeeb Zakir
(Congress), Ruling Party Leader N. Nagaraju (BJP), D.J. Halli councillor
Sampath Raj (Congress), Rajarajeshwarinagar councillor G.H. Ramachandra
(BJP), Pattabhiramanagar councillor C.K. Ramamurthy (BJP) and Janata
Dal (Secular) Floor Leader Thimme Gowda. Sources added that these
councillors were not bothered about the anti-defection law. Citing the
case of Mr. Padmanabha Reddy, who moved to BJP from JD(S), sources said
that MLA aspirants may not think twice about switching to another party
if promised a ticket. Mr. Mallesh, who has filed his nomination as a
rebel candidate, has already been offered the ticket by the Karnataka
Janata Paksha (KJP). “I will take a call on whether to join the party in
a day or two,” he said.