Bengaluru to have 243 municipal wards, numerologically speaking

Numerology, it seems, has had the final say in deciding the number of municipal wards that Bengaluru will have.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has approved creating 243 wards in the state capital, a figure that totals up to nine, which is considered to be a lucky number. The city currently has 198 wards.

"A government order on delimitation is expected shortly," BJP's C V Raman Nagar legislator S Raghu, who heads the Joint Select Committee that is looking into a new law proposed to govern Bengaluru, said.

Speaking to DH, Raghu said that the CM agreed to the proposal of setting up 243 wards during a discussion on delimitation of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) held Tuesday. A delimitation committee with BBMP Commissioner as the chairperson and Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner, BDA Commissioner and BBMP Special Commissioner (Revenue) as members has been formed and it is expected to submit a report by November 10.

Each ward, following delimitation, will have a population of around 35,000. "If we divide the population of Bengaluru with 35,000, the number of wards will be around 241.5 or 242. The committee preferred 243, an odd number, as it would make it easy to establish a majority during a tight election," Raghu explained.

He said that there was numerological significance in finalising 243 as the numbers added up to nine. "I had opted for 243 in the beginning because of this. While Law Minister JC Madhuswamy pitched for 240, others favoured 250 wards. Finally, the CM himself decided that 243 will be the right number," he said.

Bengaluru has over two dozen assembly constituencies. The Bangalore South constituency has the highest population and more wards will be added under this. Bangalore South is followed by Mahadevapura and KR Puram in terms of population.

Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru's central business district are likely to have 10-12 wards.

The voters list will be finalised by November 30 and the BBMP elections might be announced in the first week of December, Raghu added. The term of the BBMP Council ended last month and the civic body is currently run by an administrator.