Congress MLAs want BBMP elections to be held by November, says minister

The Congress on Tuesday discussed holding the much-delayed Bengaluru civic body polls in November this year.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and others, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said that the Congress lawmakers wanted the election to be held soon.

“Everybody wants the polls to be held early, after the monsoon, by November,” Reddy said.

The BBMP elections have not been held since September 2020. The civic body is being run through a government-appointed administrator and a special commissioner. Reddy, however, specified that elections cannot be held for 198 wards.

“We can’t go back to 198 wards. The new law has already come into effect. It says there can be up to 250 wards and the previous (BJP) government fixed it at 243,” Reddy said.

Asked about the delimitation process, Reddy maintained that there were problems with the way it was done. “We’ve said that repeatedly. I’ve been an MLA for 24 years. During every delimitation, revenue officers on the ground fix boundaries by checking population. It used to be vetted by senior officers, the commissioner and the deputy commissioner,” he said.

“But this time, we know what happened. Delimitation was given to a private agency. The process was done as per the whims and fancies of BJP MLAs, MPs and leaders.”

Reddy pointed out that the ward-wise reservation was set aside by the court. “In my constituency (BTM Layout), eight out of nine wards were reserved for women. In Gandhinagar, all six wards went to women. In Chamarajpet and Jayanagar, it was five out of six wards. The court said reservation must be given equally,” he said, adding that the court did not agree to set aside delimitation.

The minister also said that the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear a case in connection with the BBMP election on July 4.