BENGALURU: Dragging its feet over holding polls to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the state government suffered a bitter setback on Tuesday with the Supreme Court ordering all the states and union territories to hold polls to the local bodies in the next two weeks while a hearing a petition pertaining to the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Caught off guard by the SC verdict the state government, which is yet to come out with a delimitation report on BBMP wards, said that it is ready to hold polls to all the local bodies including the BBMP.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, moments after the SC verdict, told media persons in New Delhi that he would soon consult advocate general and law department about the issue. "We have been gearing up to hold polls to local bodies and in Bengaluru also we have held zonal meetings keeping in mind the BBMP polls. BJP is ever ready to hold any polls," Bommai said.
Echoing the similar sentiment, Revenue minister R Ashoka said, “The SC verdict on Madhya Pradesh is also applicable to Karnataka and we will discuss this with the Chief Minister. We (BJP) are ready to hold polls to all the local bodies.” The BBMP has been functioning without an elected council since September 2020.
Previously, the state government had enacted a separate law—Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Act 2000 to govern the city and brought-in structural changes at the administration level. The state government had also set-up a committee to look into the delimitation of wards and increased the existing 198 wards into 243 wards. However, when the High Court of Karnataka ordered holding of polls to 198 wards within six weeks in December 2020, the state government approached the Supreme Court citing the new act and the delimitation process.
However, the SC order came as a rap on the knuckles of the state government as the three-judge bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar said, “If there is need to undertake delimitation -which indeed is a continuous exercise to be undertaken by the concerned authority - it ought to be commenced well-in-advance to ensure that the elections of the concerned local body are notified in time so that the elected body would be able to take over the reins of its administration without any disruption and continuity of governance (thereby upholding the tenet of Government of the people, by the people and for the people).” The bench also stated that this order is not just limited to Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra but to all the States and Union Territories and respective Election Commission to abide by the same without fail to uphold the constitutional mandate.
Taking dig at the state government for delaying the polls, former minister and KPCC Working President Ramalinga Reddy said, “Despite our extended support to restructure the boundaries of ward, the state government did nothing but to waste time as their sole intention was to avoid polls. Due to their cavalier attitude, now the OBC candidates will face a setback as they must contest under general category quota.” Congress MLC and former Mayor PR Ramesh said, “The government cannot cite any reason to defer the polls to 198 wards. Had they been keen on holding the polls, they would have held it by now. But their intention was only to loot the BBMP which is visible in its administration as the city is riddled with potholes, delay payment to contractors and hush-hush tender process.”
