BJP's Gowtham Kumar is Bengaluru Mayor

Agencies

October 1, 2019

Bengaluru, Oct 1: The BJP corporator M Gowtham Kumar was elected as Bengaluru Mayor on Tuesday defeating Congress nominee R S Sathyanarayana.

Kumar, who represents Jogupalya ward, secured 129 votes as against Sathyanarayana (Dattatreya Temple ward) who got 112 in a 249-vote electoral college, which comprise city corporators, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha members, MLAs and the MLCs from Bengaluru.

Despite emerging as the single largest party in the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) council in 2015 by winning 101 seats out of 198 seats, the party was not able to get the post of mayor or deputy mayor as it fell short on numbers in the electoral college.

The major blow to BJP's rivals Congress and the JD(S), which continue to have coalition in the BBMP council, was the disqualification of several of their MLAs by the then Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar earlier this year after their resignation.

The five city MLAs among them -- Munirathna, S T Somashekhar, Byrathi Basavaraj, K Gopalaiah and R Roshan Baig -- could not vote.

Soon after winning the election, celebration broke out at Kumar's residence with distribution of sweets.

However, there were protests too against his victory.

Pro-Kannada organisation Kannada Chalavali (Vatal Paksha) staged a protest in the city alleging that an 'outsider' has been made the city mayor.

Kumar, who is originally from Rajasthan, hails from Jain community.

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QR-code tips power Mangaluru's major drug bust: 25 arrested in 2 weeks

News Network

December 16,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 16: The Mangaluru City police have significantly escalated their campaign against drug trafficking, arresting 25 individuals and booking 12 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act between November 30 and December 13. The crackdown resulted in the seizure of a substantial quantity of illicit substances, including 685.6 grams of MDMA and 1.5 kg of ganja.

The success of this recent drive has been significantly boosted by the city’s innovative, QR code-based anonymous reporting system.

"The anonymous reporting system has received an encouraging response. Several recent arrests were made based on inputs received through this system, helping police tighten the noose around drug peddlers," said the City Police Commissioner.

The latest arrests contribute to a robust year-to-date record, underscoring the police's relentless commitment to combating the drug menace.

Up to December 14 this year, the police have registered a total of 107 cases of drug peddling, leading to the arrest of 219 peddlers. Furthermore, they have booked 562 cases of drug consumption, resulting in the arrest of 671 individuals.

The scale of the seizure for the year reflects the magnitude of the problem being tackled: police have seized 320.6 kg of ganja worth ₹88.7 lakh and 1.4 kg of MDMA valued at ₹1.2 crore. Other significant seizures include hydro-weed ganja worth ₹94.7 lakh and cocaine worth ₹1.9 lakh, among others.

The Commissioner emphasized a policy of rigorous enforcement: "We ensure that peddlers are caught red-handed so that they cannot later dispute the case or claim innocence."

To counter the rising trend of substance abuse among youth, the Mangaluru City police have rolled out uniform guidelines for random drug testing across educational institutions.

As part of the drive, tests were conducted in approximately 100 institutions, screening an estimated 5,500 to 6,000 students in the first phase. 20 students tested positive for drug consumption during the initial screening.

Students who tested positive have been provided counselling and are scheduled for re-testing in the second quarter. The testing will also be expanded to students not covered in the first phase. In a move to ensure strict implementation, police personnel were deployed in mufti in some institutions. Reiterating a zero-tolerance stance, the Commissioner confirmed that random testing will continue, and colleges have also been instructed to conduct drug tests at the time of admission to deter substance abuse from an early stage.

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