The Karnataka high court has extended the deadline for the state government to hold local body elections, which include zilla and taluk panchayat polls and those for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The Basavaraj Bommai government has been given 12 weeks for a delimitation exercise and to prepare the reservation list for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The HC accepted 12 weeks sought by the state in the memo filed before it. The Supreme Court had ordered that all states and union territories in the country must hold pending elections to their local bodies within two weeks while hearing a case pertaining to Madhya Pradesh earlier this month.
Following the order, the state government was in a fluster as elections to BBMP, Bengaluru's local municipal corporation and responsible for the administration of the city, have been pending for almost two years. The earlier elected council's term expired in September 2020. The state government has cited reasons like redrawing of BBMP wards - from 198 to 243 - and giving reservation to OBCs for the delay.
The Karnataka State Election Commission (SEC) then filed a memo before the high court to hear a pending petition regarding the issue and submitted to the court that the state government had withdrawn the Election Commission's power on delimitation of constituencies and drawing up the reservation list. Without these the State EC was unable to announce the election schedule.
Later, the Supreme Court said necessary notifications regarding delimitation of wards and determining reservation percentage for OBCs in the BBMP should be notified in eight weeks. Even as the deadline went from two weeks to now eight, chief minister Bommai had said the government is exploring legal options to seek more time to conduct the much anticipated local body polls.
{{/usCountry}}Later, the Supreme Court said necessary notifications regarding delimitation of wards and determining reservation percentage for OBCs in the BBMP should be notified in eight weeks. Even as the deadline went from two weeks to now eight, chief minister Bommai had said the government is exploring legal options to seek more time to conduct the much anticipated local body polls.
{{/usCountry}}Bengaluru, known by its other names like the IT hub or the Garden City, is in desperate need of smooth governance and re-establishment of a structured leadership given its crumbling infrastructure.