Voters' card distribution will continue till Oct 10

 
Top-level official sources said, this EPIC programme is particularly related to the BBMP elections and has no connection with the Assembly or the Lok Sabha polls. “This EPIC programme is going on ward-wise, and can be used only for the BBMP elections,” an official connected to the process told Deccan Herald.

The programme, which begins on July 1, will continue for 100 days and unless 90 per cent voters are not enrolled under this EPIC programme, elections may not happen. “In all likelihood, the elections may happen in the first week of October,” the officer added.

The Government is under pressure from the Karnataka High Court which had directed it to hold the BBMP elections by July 31 while hearing on a petition filed by the former Mayor P R Ramesh. The latter had filed a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the government for an elected body in the Palike.

Draft delimitation

The Government had recently increased the number of wards in the BBMP from 100 to 198 and published the draft delimitation. It also invited objections for which last date ended on Tuesday. According to the Bangalore Urban Deputy Commissioner G N Nayak, so far, 1,571 objections have been filed.

Now, the BBMP has to address the objections and then publish the final notification of the draft delimitation, which would require at least ten days, said official sources.

Further, the BBMP has to carry out reservation of the wards for which draft notification has to be published. After receiving the objections, it will have to publish final notification, which will require not less than a month. The Palike would then have to send the files to the State Election Commission to hold the BBMP elections. The Commission will have to mop up its resources for holding the elections, and subsequently it will have to issue the dates of polls.