A Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka in Kalaburagi, on Thursday, stayed an earlier order of the court that directed the Regional Commissioner (Kalaburagi Division) to hold elections to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts of Kalaburagi as per an old notification issued on November 6, 2021.
The Division Bench comprising Justice S.R. Krishnakumar and K.S. Hemalekha, after hearing an appeal, stayed the earlier order and adjourned hearing to March 14.
Advocate-General Prabhuling Navadgi appeared for the State Government and advocate Gowri Shankar Kashempur argued for the petitioners.
On February 4, Justice E.S. Indresh, stating that the “rules of the game cannot be altered after the commencement of the game”, ordered that the elections to the Mayoral posts be conducted as per the old voter list of 63 members, excluding the petitioners who are five BJP MLCs whose names were included in the electoral rolls after the elections to the 55 wards of Kalaburagi City Corporation.
The judge had also asked the Regional Commissioner, who was the Election Officer, to follow the old notification on category reserved for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts and conduct the elections within a month from the order. Challenging the ruling, the BJP MLCs moved the Division Bench with an appeal.
Of the 55 wards in the municipal corporation, the Congress has won 27 seats to emerge as the single largest party followed by the BJP with 23 seats and the Janata Dal (Secular) with four seats.
The Congress strength on the floor of the House is 29 with one MLA and one Rajya Sabha member on its side. The BJP also matched the Congress tally with three MLCs, two MLAs and a Lok Sabha member.
Expecting a Congress-Janata Dal(S) coalition to capture the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor posts, the BJP took another route to increase its strength to thwart the bid and capture power in the civic body.
As per the design, seven BJP Members of the Legislative Council — Laxman Savadi (Athani), Tulsi Muniraju Gowda (Bengaluru), Pratap Simha Naik (Ujire), Lehar Singh (Bengaluru), Bharati Shetty (Bengaluru), Sabanna Talawar (Belagavi) and Raghunathrao Malkapure (Bidar), all from the outside the district — applied for inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls of Gulbarga South Assembly Constituency so that, by virtue of their local residence, they could become the members of the civic body and cast their votes in the Mayoral elections.
The applications of five MLCs, Laxman Savadi, Tulsi Muniraju Gowda, Lehar Singh, Bharati Shetty and Raghunathrao Malkapure, were accepted and they were included in the electoral rolls of the Gulbarga South Assembly Constituency.
The number of electors eligible to vote in the Mayoral polls consequently rose to 68 from 63 giving an advantage to the BJP. The Congress then knocked on the doors of the court challenging the BJP’s efforts to capture the Mayoral posts.
