Uncertainty looms over BBMP elections, no candidates finalised yet
Earlier, on September 30, the HC had ordered the SEC to prepare a fresh list before November 30 and conduct the elections before December 31.
Despite two days to the Karnataka high court (HC) directing the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct the civic body elections by this year end, there has been no visible progress in this direction with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not even having started the process of candidate selection yet.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) which has now been without an elected council since September 2020 still faces an uncertain future.
Earlier, on September 30, the HC had ordered the SEC to prepare a fresh list before November 30 and conduct the elections before December 31.
The elections have been delayed on account of multiple legal entanglements, including the HC setting aside the BJP-led state government’s reservation list for BBMP announced in August this year, the short duration left for the assembly polls, objections to the delimitations among other issues, according to multiple people aware of the developments.
“I can tell you for sure that no party will want to conduct the elections. I am saying that irrespective of parties... no one wants to conduct it before the assembly elections,” said one BJP office bearer, requesting anonymity.
The person cited above added that “the BJP has put in place booth committees and has organised its workers to ensure that there are representatives for every 40 members or page committees”, indicating that the party had prepared everything to ensure a successful outing but that the candidates were still not finalised.
With 28 seats (out of the 224 in the state), Bengaluru has the highest number of assembly constituencies and a good performance here is key to forming the government.
Previously, the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in the state has been accused of delaying the BBMP elections in Bengaluru as any upset in the same is likely to have a bearing on the upcoming assembly polls next year.
The multiple cases going on in high court and the Supreme Court with regard to delimitation and reservation by political parties, organisations and individuals have only added to the apprehensions.
Even during the Covid-19 pandemic and the floods, the city was left with no local representation, adding to the hardships of the residents in India’s IT capital.
Legislators and former corporators within the BJP have also time and again raised concerns over the delay in elections as most of the ministers have taken over all roles that otherwise fall on the council, including tenders, policies related to Bengaluru and ‘control’ over the wards, people aware of the developments said.
“Everyone is making statements as though they want the polls to happen but …(in reality)… they are fighting against it,” said a former BJP corporator, requesting anonymity.
Under the new BBMP Act, the existing number of wards were increased from 198 to 243 and ward-wise reservation lists were drawn up among other exercises, all of which attracted sharp criticism from the opposition parties.
The Congress, the principal opposition party in the state, has also accused the BJP of drawing the delimitation boundaries and splitting voters in a way “which will help it retain control over the city corporation, the prestige that comes with it and the around ₹10,000 crore annual budget for Bengaluru,” HT reported.
Senior Congress leader and working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Ramaligna Reddy said out of the 97 wards that come under the assembly constituencies of Congress and one Janata Dal (Secular) legislator, 76 have been reserved for women. And out of the 65 wards that are categorised as general, 45 were in the constituencies of the BJP MLAs.
Similarly, according to the draft notification of the state government, nearly half of the total 243 seats will be reserved for OBCs, SCs and STs. The breakup is as follows - 81 seats have been reserved for OBCs, while 28 have been reserved for SCs and four for STs. The remaining 130 seats will be occupied by general category candidates. Women will be taking up half of the total seats.
Congress legislator from Jayanagara and one of the petitioners in the BBMP issue, Sowmya Reddy said, “The BJP has created multiple issues which don’t allow to conduct the elections”.
“Personally, Bengaluru has actually been neglected for the past two years. One, there is no council. By law, the elections have to be conducted within six months (of the term ending) and the administrator has to be in charge for a maximum of six months. There is no Bengaluru development minister. When our government was in power, there used to be meetings, inspections, reviews regularly not just at the council but at the government level as well,” she said.
“The BJP is really worried because they will not get a majority and are pushing the elections,” Reddy alleged.
On the other hand, the saffron party has said that it will begin preparations for the polls even though the government appears to be on an entirely different page.
““We have to start preparations now. We have enough candidates,” GV Rajesh, the general secretary (organisation) of the state BJP said.
“We are yet to start the process and we will have to see (what parameters will be used to distribute tickets). We believe that elections will happen and are also preparing accordingly,” he added.
