<p>There was high drama inside the chamber of BJP councillor Padmanabha Reddy an hour before the mayoral polls on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Reddy, who had filed his nomination for the post, was urged to withdraw from the race at a closed-door meeting held by Chikkaballapur BJP MP B N Bachhe Gowda, Bengaluru BJP MLAs Uday Garudachar, S R Vishwanath, Satish Reddy and former MLA<br />Muniraju, who tried to convince him about the party’s decision.</p>.<p>Half an hour after the meeting, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, along with party general secretary Ravi Kumar, Bengaluru South MLA Krishnappa and Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, arrived at Padmanabha Reddy’s cabin to address the media.</p>.<p>Soon after he sat on the chair, Ashoka moved the name board of Reddy aside, categorically conveying the decision of the party.</p>.<p>“We had asked two people to file nominations for the mayoral post. This decision was taken as a precautionary measure so as not to lose out to the opposition. However, our first choice was Goutham Kumar. Padmanabha Reddy will withdraw his nomination.”</p>.<p>Goutham Kumar was subsequently elected the mayor.</p>.<p>Later, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa attributed the triumph at BBMP to state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel. Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said it was the first victory under Kateel.</p>.<p>Interestingly, BSY had on Monday remarked that he had no role in the selection of the mayoral candidate and that it was up to Kateel. </p>.<p>No buzz for Cong, JD(s)</p>.<p>Contrary to the dramatic turn of events on the BJP side, there was no buzz among former coalition partners Congress and JD(S). Ramalinga Reddy, Soumya Reddy and K J George were seen casually moving around Congress ruling party leader Abdul Wajid’s chamber.</p>.<p>A handful of JD(S) corporators were at a closed-door meeting at Nethra Narayan’s chamber.</p>.<p>However, despite the standoff by JD(S) members over the fight against the BJP, Manjula N Swamy from Laggere wards and K Devadas from BTM Layout wards boycotted the elections, saying the polls were being held in an unconstitutional way that cost two votes for the coalition candidates.</p>.<p>Whip issued</p>.<p>According to Congress and JD(S) corporators, a whip was issued by the respective high commands to cast their votes for R S Sathyanarayan (Congress) who was nominated for the mayoral post, and Gangamma (JD-S) who was nominated for the deputy mayor’s post.</p>
<p>There was high drama inside the chamber of BJP councillor Padmanabha Reddy an hour before the mayoral polls on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Reddy, who had filed his nomination for the post, was urged to withdraw from the race at a closed-door meeting held by Chikkaballapur BJP MP B N Bachhe Gowda, Bengaluru BJP MLAs Uday Garudachar, S R Vishwanath, Satish Reddy and former MLA<br />Muniraju, who tried to convince him about the party’s decision.</p>.<p>Half an hour after the meeting, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, along with party general secretary Ravi Kumar, Bengaluru South MLA Krishnappa and Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, arrived at Padmanabha Reddy’s cabin to address the media.</p>.<p>Soon after he sat on the chair, Ashoka moved the name board of Reddy aside, categorically conveying the decision of the party.</p>.<p>“We had asked two people to file nominations for the mayoral post. This decision was taken as a precautionary measure so as not to lose out to the opposition. However, our first choice was Goutham Kumar. Padmanabha Reddy will withdraw his nomination.”</p>.<p>Goutham Kumar was subsequently elected the mayor.</p>.<p>Later, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa attributed the triumph at BBMP to state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel. Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said it was the first victory under Kateel.</p>.<p>Interestingly, BSY had on Monday remarked that he had no role in the selection of the mayoral candidate and that it was up to Kateel. </p>.<p>No buzz for Cong, JD(s)</p>.<p>Contrary to the dramatic turn of events on the BJP side, there was no buzz among former coalition partners Congress and JD(S). Ramalinga Reddy, Soumya Reddy and K J George were seen casually moving around Congress ruling party leader Abdul Wajid’s chamber.</p>.<p>A handful of JD(S) corporators were at a closed-door meeting at Nethra Narayan’s chamber.</p>.<p>However, despite the standoff by JD(S) members over the fight against the BJP, Manjula N Swamy from Laggere wards and K Devadas from BTM Layout wards boycotted the elections, saying the polls were being held in an unconstitutional way that cost two votes for the coalition candidates.</p>.<p>Whip issued</p>.<p>According to Congress and JD(S) corporators, a whip was issued by the respective high commands to cast their votes for R S Sathyanarayan (Congress) who was nominated for the mayoral post, and Gangamma (JD-S) who was nominated for the deputy mayor’s post.</p>