Former Congress councillors will be meeting Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy to press the State government to hold polls for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which has no elected body for the last three years.
The former councilors are planning to meet the leaders after the government issues the final notification on delimitation. Sources in the government say that final notification is likely to be issued within a week.
Former councillor Abdul Wajid told The Hindu, “We will be meeting Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Reddy to draw their attention to holding the polls. After the final notification is issued, the government can immediately complete reservations and hold polls in December.”
Mr. Reddy, who heads Congress’s internal BBMP election committee, has been maintaining that the government intends to hold polls in December. However, sources say that it all depends on whether delimitation can smoothly pass through the judiciary without being challenged. The government also has a challenge of preparing ward-wise reservation. The High Court in 2022 quashed the reservation notification issued by the then government. In December, 2022, the Supreme Court had granted three months time for the commission constituted on the direction of the HC pertaining to OBC and political reservation to submit the report.
Sources say that Congress councillors are keen on BBMP polls, but the government’s intent is not clear yet. A former councillor who did not wish to be named said with the cumbersome process involved, it looks like polls for the BBMP may not happen until the Lok Sabha elections. The then BJP government, which was not keen on holding elections, also had the backing of some Congress MLAs from Bengaluru, who think they may lose the grip over the civic body if an elected body is installed, the councillor alleged.
