BENGALURU : M.Gowtham Kumar, the 43 year old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator from Jogupalya was elected as the new Mayor of Bengaluru as the saffron party regained control over one of the largest city corporations in the country after a gap of four years.

With a budget of over ₹11000 crore for a city that houses over 20% of the state’s population in an area spanning over 840 square kms, the BJP now increasing its stronghold over Bengaluru, that contributes around half of Karnataka’s gross domestic product.

C.R.Ram Mohan Raju, the corporator from Bommanahalli ward was elected as the Deputy Mayor. The victory heralding the BJP back to power at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city's civic body) after a gap of four years and after the coalition between the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) collapsed in the state.

Kumar bagged 129 votes in favour of his candidature while his opponent, R.S.Sathyanarayana got 112 votes from the Congress and JD(S) out of the 249 present in the council on Tuesday. The decision by the former allies to rally behind the same candidate proving futile against the BJP that managed to get the backing of some independents as well as supporters of the the five disqualified former legislators from Bengaluru.

Kumar takes over as the first citizen of the city when it faces innumerable challenges that ranges from ineffective handling of solid waste management, cartelisation of public works tenders, dug up roads, overflowing drains and rapidly crumbling infrastructure among other problems.

“I want to make Bengaluru traffic and garbage free," an ambitious Kumar said, addressing media persons on Tuesday. But the new Mayor will be a titular post as the state government continues to tighten its grip on the city corporation, according to urban infrastructure experts.

"Increasingly, the state has gained more control and the BBMP is like a maintenance agency,"Naresh Narasimha, urban infrastructure consultant and principal architect and managing partner at Venkataramanan Associates, who designed the Church Street makeover pro bono for the BBMP.

Control over the BBMP would also help the BJP in its perception battle of who controls the administration in Bengaluru, a globally renowned city for being one of the biggest software exporters in the country and houses one of the biggest start-up and e-commerce ecosystems globally.

The BJP won three out of the four parliamentary seats in Bengaluru and is now hoping to converge its synergies to help increase its stronghold over the city.

V.Ravichandar, urban expert and former member of Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) says that only half of the city’s problems can be attributed to the BBMP as there are other agencies like Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board(BWSSB), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) among other agencies that contribute to the ‘liveability’ index of the city.

The living quality in Bengaluru has denigrated over the years due to unplanned growth, mass migration, crumbling infrastructure and inability by civic authorities to provide basic amenities to its residents.

The apathy by civic agencies forcing citizens to mobilise resources and help themselves and not wait for any help from the authorities. Bengaluru-based artist, Badal Nanjundaswamy had attracted international attention after his video, in which an actor dressed as an astronaut and walking Bengaluru’s crater-laden roads (meant to simulate the surface of the moon) to highlight civic apathy had gone viral.

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