Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the state government will explore legal options to seek more time to conduct local body polls, further adding uncertainty over the election pending for at least a year.
“We are hopeful of getting time... We have to go for polls with OBC (other backward classes) reservation, either to go by reservation that existed so far or give time for new reservation,” Bommai said on Friday in Bengaluru.
He said one case, related to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body), was pending before the Supreme Court and the government would like to give reservations first and only then conduct zilla and taluka panchayati elections.
The statements come at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka has been accused of deliberately delaying conducting of local body polls as it fears an upset before the 2023 assembly election in which it hopes to return to power with a full majority.
Facing a barrage of corruption allegations, infighting within the nine-month-old government and delay in expanding the cabinet as well as growing disgruntlement over Bommai’s elevation as chief minister, the BJP faces a tough task in any upcoming polls.
{{/usCountry}}Facing a barrage of corruption allegations, infighting within the nine-month-old government and delay in expanding the cabinet as well as growing disgruntlement over Bommai’s elevation as chief minister, the BJP faces a tough task in any upcoming polls.
{{/usCountry}}The BBMP or Bengaluru city corporation council has been without elected representatives since September 2020 and the polls for zilla and taluka panchayati were scheduled to be held in May last year, leaving most of the powers with the MLA’s.
A SC bench of justices AM Khanwilkar, AS Oka and CT Ravikumar on Tuesday directed the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC) to notify local elections within two weeks without the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota while mandating the states to follow the triple test laid down for such reservation. The test involves the appointment of panels, gathering empirical data for quantifying the extent and backwardness local body-wise, and ensuring the quota does not exceed the 50% ceiling.
“We also make it clear that this order and directions given are not limited to the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission/State of Madhya Pradesh; and Maharashtra State Election Commission/State of Maharashtra in terms of a similar order passed on 04.05.2022, but to all the States/Union Territories and the respective Election Commission to abide by the same without fail to uphold the constitutional mandate,” according to the SC order.
Bengaluru is the biggest city and prize for any party in the state while the zilla and taluka panchayat elections would help gauge the mood of the rural population, likely serving as an indicator of which way the state would vote.
In October 2020, the state government had constituted a delimitation committee which had dragged its feet to carry out the exercise. The state government had challenged the Karnataka HC 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 that provides for 243 wards was also passed amid huge opposition and in the absence of a city council by the then BS Yediyurappa-led government.