The Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajanagar on Monday issued a notification for the bypolls to be held on October 28 for seven wards of Kollegal City Municipal Council (CMC).
The bypolls will help fill up the seats left vacant after the disqualification of seven Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) members for violation of the party whip during the elections to the post of President and Vice President of the CMC held in October, 2020.
The issue of notification on Monday also marks the first day for filing nominations for the byelections, which will be held for ward numbers 2, 6, 7, 13, 21, 25 and 26. The last date for filing nominations is October 17 while scrutiny will be held on October 18. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 20.
While voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 28, counting of votes is scheduled to be held on October 31, said a statement issued by the office of Deputy Commissioner.
The seven disqualified BSP members have been barred from contesting the byelections.
Background
The 7 BSP members of the CMC, who were disqualified for violation of the party whip during the election of the CMC President, had aligned themselves with former Minister and Kollegal MLA N. Mahesh, who had been expelled by the BSP.
They defied the party whip to vote in favour of a a rebel BSP candidate for the post of CMC President on October 29 after which a complaint was made to the then Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajanagar, who disqualified them as councillors under Section 3 and 4 of the Karnataka Local Authorities (Prohibition of Defenction) Act. Their disqualification was recently upheld by a Division Bench of the Karnataka in June this year.
During the elections to 31-member Kollegal CMC held in August 2018, a total of 9 BSP members had been elected while the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 11 members. BJP bagged seven seats and four seats were won by independents.
Meanwhile, Congress candidate Rekha Ramesh won the elections to the post of Kollegal CMC President’s post held on Monday with the support of four independents and two BSP members in addition to the 11 Congress members. She defeated her rival and BJP candidate Srisha Satish in the elections.
