Karnataka govt mulls tinkering with BBMP ahead of polls; may increase number of wards, zones

With BBMP elections around the corner, the Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday discussed the possibility of increasing the number of wards from 198 to 225.

The new wards will include some areas outside BBMP limits.

It was also proposed to increase the number of zones in BBMP limits from eight to 15. However, a final call on the issue will be taken by the Joint Select Committee meeting scheduled Friday, according to Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy.

Responding to a question to appointing an administrator to BBMP, he said that the government will submit to the High Court that it would conduct the civic body election after delimitation of wards. There was a petition in court to announce reservation for 198 wards and conduct elections.

"There are demands to delimit wards based on population density and area. We have to decided to maintain a population of 40 to 42,000 in each of the wards during delimitation," he said.

There have been several suggestions from MLAs of various parties in the Committee regarding how delimitation will be conducted. Based on it the government will file an affidavit in High Court, he added.