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Kumaraswamy hits out at Karnataka government over renaming of BBMP wards
The statements come two days after the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government notified the draft delimitation for Bengaluru after it told the Supreme Court in May that it would conduct elections to the BBMP within 10 weeks, and reservations for other backward classes (OBC) will also be included.
Former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka on Saturday over the renaming of wards in Bengaluru during the delimitation process.
The Karnataka government notified the draft delimitation to expand the number of wards under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from 198 to 243, and the same will be posted in the public domain to call for any objections within the next 15 days.
“I upgraded the BMP into Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike intending to locally deliver the best administrative services. But, the @BJP4Karnataka government is conspiring to uproot the very intention behind creating BBMP for its selfish political gains,” Kumaraswamy said in a series of posts on Twitter.
“BJP is thirsty for power. They cannot tolerate any other party in power. Fearing that people would vote against them for their maladministration, BJP didn’t conduct BBMP elections. After getting whipped by the Court, the govt is now enacting delimitation drama,” the former chief minister said.
The statements come two days after the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government notified the draft delimitation for Bengaluru after it told the Supreme Court in May that it would conduct elections to the BBMP within 10 weeks, and reservations for other backward classes (OBC) will also be included.
Bengaluru accounts for 28 out of the total 224 assembly constituencies in the state, and any upset in the state capital is likely to dent the BJP’s reelection bid next year.
Bommai had also announced the setting up of a commission to study the political representation of backward classes, headed by Justice Bhaktavatsala and retired IAS official CR Chikmath appointed as its member. The commission’s report is yet to be submitted to the government.
The draft delimitation has been named based on historical personalities, including Veera Madakari, Kanneshwara Rama, Chanakya, Randheera Kanteerava, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Veera Sindhura Lakshmana, Deenadayal, Vijayanagara Krishnadevaraya and Sir M Visvesvaraya, among others.
Equating it to the ongoing textbook controversy, Kumaraswamy said, “City’s unity & uniqueness is ignored in ward delimitation. Bengaluru is not just Constituencies represented by BJP MLAs. This is a delimitation done by the BJP, for BJP MLAs. Changing historical names of wards is also an effort to erase footprints of history, like how they dented the image of Kempe Gowda & Mysuru Wodeyars in textbooks.”
The Bommai-led government has so far defended the changes by the textbook revision committee headed by Rohit Chakrathirtha despite disbanding it.
“There is no issue on the content but about the controversy about a 2017 tweet by Chakrathirtha. Siddaramaiah-led Congress government was in power then, and they were the ones who filed a B report in the case,” said a BJP leader, requesting not to be named.
“Chakrathirtha was let off as he said it was a WhatsApp forward. We are going after the creators of the post,” the leader said.
Chakratheertha had come under heavy fire when a 2017 post of his on social media started doing the rounds again in which the ‘Naada Geethe’ or state anthem was written by one of Karnataka’s most revered poets and personalities, KV Puttappa or Kuvempu, was distorted and a parody version was put online.
“That is an old issue which is over. I have repeatedly said that it is not my writing. Those who have read me know my work. It came as a WhatsApp forward, and I wanted to share stating that someone had done this and clearly said that it was a forward on my Facebook page. For political reasons, they had put a case against me, nor did I justify myself or run away from it. There was no question of insulting the nada geethe,” Chakratheertha said at the time, HT reported on May 25.
The political opposition in Karnataka and a section of the BJP leaders have expressed their doubts on whether the Bommai-led administration will hold elections for the BBMP before the assembly polls next year, HT reported on Saturday.
