Delimitation process in Bengaluru almost complete, says BBMP

“It is going to happen anytime now. The delimitation draft will be sent to the government for approval. The delimitation process is 99.9% done and we are just making some ornamental changes now,” Bengaluru civic body BBMP chief commissioner and chairperson of delimitation commission Tushar Girinath said.

The long-delayed delimitation exercise in the country’s IT capital is almost complete, increasing the possibility to conduct elections for the city council which has been vacant since September 2020, a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) official said on Wednesday.

The long-delayed delimitation exercise in Bengaluru is almost complete, increasing the possibility to conduct elections for the city council which has been vacant since September 2020, BBMP official said amid rising concerns over potholes, among other issues. (HT Photo)

The Basavaraj Bommai-led Karnataka government had submitted on May 20 to the Supreme Court that it will conduct the elections as soon as the delimitation exercise is finished as it can increase the number of wards from 198 to 243 and implement reservation opportunities for the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

“It is going to happen anytime now. The delimitation draft will be sent to the government for approval. The delimitation process is 99.9% done and we are just making some ornamental changes now,” BBMP chief commissioner and chairperson of delimitation commission Tushar Girinath said.

The Congress had accused the BJP government of delaying the elections as it would lose on account of its poor performance under Bommai and piling charges of corruption and lack of development.

The BJP government had argued that there were some wards which had over 1.5 lakh residents while some as low as 25000 people, adding to the inequality in distribution of resources, adding to the delay in the delimitation process.

Currently Bengaluru has 198 wards and as per the new BBMP Act, 2020, it was proposed for the wards to be increased to 243 which will help accommodate the outer regions of the city and provide for more equitable distribution of the city’s resources.

In October 2020, the state had constituted a delimitation committee which was to finish the exercise at the earliest to facilitate elections. Two months later, the state also challenged the Karnataka high court order of December 2020 which directed the state election authorities to conduct polls for 198 wards within six weeks.

Around the same time, the BBMP Act was passed amid huge opposition and in the absence of a city council by the then BS Yediyurappa-led government.

With just a few months to go before the 2023 assembly elections, Bengaluru is the testing ground for any party in the state where the zilla and taluka panchayat elections will help gauge the mood of the rural population, likely serving as an indicator of which way the state would vote.

Bengaluru is also plagued by poor administration as its residents are forced to endure pothole-laden roads, dust from never-ending construction, inefficient waste management, toxic lakes, encroachment of public spaces and lack of vision and planning. The city’s fault lines are further exposed each time it rains as the roads become treacherous and most of the water flows into homes and offices largely due to lack of planning.

The Congress had accused the BJP government of delaying the elections as it would lose on account of its poor performance under Bommai and piling charges of corruption and lack of development.