JOIN USCan't work without cars, say Palike heads
Withdrawal of official cars allotted to standing committee members of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) — in the wake of election code of conduct — has not gone down well with them.
For, the heads of the standing committees are not turning up for work, claiming they have no cars.
As soon as the elections to the Assembly constituencies in the State were announced by the Election Commission (EC) of India on Thursday, vehicles sanctioned to 17 elected representatives in the BBMP, including Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy, Deputy Mayor L Srinivas and heads of 12 standing committees were withdrawn. Even though it has been a regular practice during the polls, some committee members, especially new members, showed some resistance to the Election Commission officials.
One of the standing committee members told Deccan Herald that he has urged the Mayor to write to the EC for allotting cars to perform official duties. “I don’t understand the logic behind withdrawal of cars. We are not using it for poll campaign,” he added. Another standing committee head said they have decided not to attend office work till the cars were returned.
Sources in the BBMP said due to the non-cooperation of the standing committee members, a meeting to draft plans for celebration of upcoming Kempegowda Jayanthi could not be conducted on Friday.
“Since some of the committee heads are new, it would take time for them to understand such rules and regulations. Ultimately, everybody has to abide by the directives laid down by the Election Commission,” said a senior official from the Palike.
Also, it is not a must for standing committee heads or for any corporator for that matter that he or she should come to Palike office every day, he added. Most of the cars withdrawn from public representatives have been parked at the basement of the BBMP head office near Hudson Circle. EC officials said they would be used, if necessary, on the polling day, by the elections officials.