Karnataka HC puts BBMP ward reservation on hold till August 16

More delays are in store for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's elections as a Karnataka High Court judge on Wednesday directed the state government to put the ward reservation list on hold upon hearing petitions against it.

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to put on hold the new ward reservation list for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city corporation) elections till August 16.

BBMP, Bengaluru's local municipal corporation, has been functioning without an elected council since September 2020.

A single judge bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar gave this direction after hearing a batch of petitions that claimed the reservation list was flawed and challenged it.

It is only an oral direction and not an interim order.

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The court will hear the petitions again on August 16 and consider the objections of the state government and Election Commission before deciding on an interim stay as prayed in the petitions.

Notices have been issued to the state and Election Commission. The number of wards in BBMP has been increased from 198 to 243.

There is 50 per cent reservation for women across all categories. The reservation categories include 130 seats for General, 81 for OBC, 28 for Schedule Castes and four for Scheduled Tribes.