Somanna's meat-and-greet

The vegetarian strongman had voters eating out his hands during his lavish thanksgiving lunch. The meat on the menu had a message: He had the non-vegetarian Vokkaligas and Kurubas with him

The vegetarian strongman had voters eating out his hands during his lavish thanksgiving lunch. The meat on the menu had a message: He had the non-vegetarian Vokkaligas and Kurubas with him

Guests made a dash for the meat at V Somanna's luxury lunch at Palace Grounds yesterday,u00a0 polishing off 7 tonnes of mutton and thousands of kilogrammes of chicken. The non-vegetarian items went largely untouched.
The ex-MLA, who quit the Congress to join the BJP last month, threw a thanksgivingu00a0u00a0 party for voters following BJP's election victory. Most of the guests were people from his constituency, Govindraja Nagar.

Bon Appetit: Around 4,000 guests at V Somanna's lunch, at Palace Grounds yesterday, polished off 7 tonnes of mutton pics/Satish Badiger

"There were some 40,000 people there," said a BJP leader. "The priority was non-vegetarian with the vegetarian items having no takers."

While the food was catered by Sagar Fast Food, no liquor was served.

"We wanted to avoid any untoward scenes," said Somanna. "Not one person was seen even smoking at the venue."

Making a point

The emphasis on non-vegetarian food was intentional, said a source close to Somanna. The Lingayat leader wanted show that the meat-eating Vokkaligas and Kurubas were with him. "It is a clear message for R Ashok and Katta Subramanya Naidu, ministers in-charge of Bangalore city," source said.

Ashok, a Vokkaliga, and Katta, a leader of the Telugu-speaking Naidu community, are jittery that Somanna's clout in the city may threaten their positions in the party and the government.

As if endorsing the view, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa who took part in the lunch said, "BJP won all three parliamentary constituencies in the city thanks to Somanna's clout among the voters."

The victorious candidates H N Ananth Kumar (Bangalore South), D B Chandre Gowda (Bangalore North) and P C Mohan (Bangalore Central) were present along with ministers Ashok, Katta, Shobha Karandlaje and others.

The event is also being seen as a woo-voters exercise with the assembly by-election and BBMP polls round the corner. While Somanna has to win the by-poll to be able to enter the state cabinet, he is expected to lead the BJP in the BBMP polls.

Stock-taking
Didn't get your quota of mutton yesterday?u00a0 Here's why:
The abattoir in Frazer Town (Doddi) supplied 7 tonnes of mutton for V Somanna's grand party.

"We have not sold this much of mutton on a single day except on the eve of Ramzan and Bakrid," said a mutton vender at the Doddi. "This resulted in some stalls having no stock and customers going back empty-handed."
The chicken for the lunch came from Shivajinagar.

Propping up the party
BBMP and BWSSB staff were seen supervising the event, thanks to which the mammoth event turned out to be a smooth affair.

"Somanna has hold in the city administration and that is why these officials were seen there," said the source.

"Some top officers offered their service because Somanna is expected to come back to power to control the city."

Dr Subramanya, commissioner of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, said, "This is a free country and people are free to participate in any party. I don't know if BBMP officers took part in Somanna's party. I have to check whether they went there during the lunch break."