JOIN USBBMP elections likely in April-May, BJP gets into poll mode
BBMP elections are likely to be held by May this year as the ruling BJP intensifies its poll preparedness.
On Tuesday, the BJP kick-started a three-day marathon meeting to finalise the election strategy for all the 243 wards in the BBMP. The party’s poll preparations will likely be monitored by none other than Union Home Minister Amith Shah.
The BJP is confident of coming back to power in the BBMP as four senior MLAs from Bengaluru had helped it form the government in Karnataka by quitting the Congress and the JD(S). The ruling party aims to win at least 150 seats.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel held separate meetings with BJP office-bearers as well as MLAs and former corporators from North Bengaluru. Another meeting has been called on Wednesday to make poll preparations for South and Central Bengaluru. The BJP will hold yet another poll-related meeting on Thursday.
To win back the confidence of Bengalureans who have been angry at the poor infrastructure in the city, the chief minister is said to have promised grants for repairing roads, especially in the outlying areas. The BJP has also formed a committee to prepare a manifesto by taking inputs from experts and non-governmental organisations.
Much of the discussion on Tuesday was to do with micro-managing the poll preparations. While MLAs have been tasked with winning a majority of wards in their constituencies, ministers have been given the additional responsibility of looking after assembly segments represented by non-BJP MLAs, it is learnt.
“We have already appointed a coordinator in every ward to fine-tune our preparations for the BBMP polls. These coordinators do not seek the ticket but only work for the party,” a state BJP office-bearer said.
The party has also lined up booth committees, page pramukhs for every 50-60 voters and vistaraks (expansionists). Their goal is to popularise the BJP’s ideology and publicise government programmes. “Out of the 9,000-odd booths in the BBMP, we don’t have a strong cadre in only about 300 booths dominated by the minorities,” he explained.
S R Vishwanath, the BJP MLA from Yelahanka, said the BBMP elections would “definitely” be held in April or May because the state government was going to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court giving its consent to holding the polls. “The case has been listed for hearing in March,” he said.
It’s learnt that the BJP doesn’t want to postpone the elections any further as it fears that aspiring corporators would “backstab” the MLAs during the assembly elections next year.
The BBMP has been without an elected council since September 2020. The government has delayed the polls by citing the need to redraw BBMP wards.
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