No end to plight: Citizens fret as council not in sight

A Janardhan, a resident of Jalahalli, has been complaining about an abandoned building near the Jalahalli Cross bus stand that has become a urinal spot for the last year. Whenever he raised the issue on the ‘Sahaaya’ platform, the complaint was immediately closed without attending to it. He believes the issue would have been resolved had the city had an elected body. The 50-year-old is quick to add that the corporators go soft on violators too.

This is a common perception that most citizens have about the corporators in Bengaluru — of doing good and bad.

From ensuring that voters get ration cards or birth certificates without much hassle to providing free venues to host wedding ceremonies, or attending to civic complaints, the councillors in Bengaluru are helpful on many fronts. But besides providing these services, the corporators, in general, have also earned a bad name when it comes to corruption and standing in support of violations.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) does not, however, have an elected council since September 2020.

When asked about the same, many former councillors shot back, wondering whether state or national polls are delayed if citizens have a similar opinion about MLAs and MPs. “If there are corruption charges or violations, there are law-enforcing institutions and the court to take action. A councillor is also voted to power by citizens, just like MLAs and MPs are. The government should realise that it is the citizens who suffer in the absence of an elected council,” Abdul Wajeed, an ex-councillor, said.

He also reminded me how the BBMP’s recent budget was presented and approved without any discussion or debate. The government, he said, is denying the constitutional rights of citizens.

BBMP polls only in 2023

As per two authoritative sources, the election to the BBMP Council will take place only in 2023, particularly after the state Assembly elections are over. Such a decision was taken during a recent meeting where MLAs of all three parties — BJP, Congress and JD(S) —were present. The BBMP polls were initially delayed citing the introduction of a separate act for Bengaluru and the non-completion of the delimitation exercise. Just when the delimitation report is ready, the Supreme Court’s order to do away with Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in urban local bodies has emerged as the next “hurdle” to elections.

Senior BJP leaders are of the view that candidates hailing from OBCs are unlikely to win if the seat is reserved under the general category.

“Most MLAs do not want BBMP polls to take place till the Assembly elections are held. Since the preparation of census work will kick-start in June, the delimitation of wards needs to be redrawn based on the latest population data, as the present report was prepared based on 2011 data,” a senior BJP functionary said.

It’s also learnt that most MLAs except Suresh Kumar, Ravi Subramanya and Rizwan Arshad have pooled in resources to appoint a renowned lawyer to defend the delay in holding BBMP elections in the Supreme Court.

“The state government wants to kill local governance. Councillors were sort of interference between MLAs and officers. By not re-electing them for more than a year, they are using BBMP to make money for themselves,” said Mohan Dasari, Aam Aadmi Party, Bengaluru president. “More than six people were killed because of bad roads and the BBMP has not changed for good.”

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