Bengaluru mayoral polls: Congress shifts 5 independent corporators to resort

Bengaluru: To avoid alleged horse-trading, the Congress party on late Thursday night shifted five independent corporators to a resort in Bengaluru ahead of the elections to the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The elections are due to be held later today.

The election was necessitated following the terms of Sampath Raj and Padmavathi Narasimhamurthy as the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of BBMP respectively ended on Thursday.

According to reports, two independent corporators switched loyalty on Thursday after which Congress swung into action and moved the remaining five independent corporators to a Bengaluru resort.

The Congress also levelled allegations of poaching against the BJP.

In a press conference on Thursday, KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao told reporters the Congress was still confident that the two corporators would support its candidate.

In the 2015 polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single-largest party with winning 100 seats out of the total of 198. Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) managed to get only 76 and 14 seats respectively.

(With inputs from agencies)